TammyHybrid21: Just because your review made me smile, I posted this chapter. TT^TT just gimme a sec, I'm feeling over-emotional ;-; thanks for your review…
Shikiyamachi: Pfft, I'm just awesome, no? And thanks, I enjoy making battle scenes. I'm a visualizer, and a perverted one at that. It's both a gift and a curse -_-…and no, how can I ever resist the pout? Your review alone made me want to post this shit, so how can I resist the friggen pout? Thanks for your review :3
Recommended song(s) (why should I even put the parenthesis there? I'm obviously gonna put more than one song on here…): Sell Your Soul by Barely Alive, feat. Jeff Sontag, Sell Your Soul by Hollywood Undead and Eyes On Fire by Blue Foundation (Zed's Dead remix).
Original word count: 3.9k~
Enjoy my splendiferous story :p
Chapter 3: As I Advance, I Hold Your Hand
The moment Minato's thoughts trailed towards Obito, all other thoughts, movements and fights were roughly interrupted when seemingly all of a sudden, a black skinned, hairless creature jumped out of the ground, punching the masked man in the cheek. The force threw him into a block of cement, making it crumble into the abyss below upon impact.
Obito coughed, his head throbbing from the chakra-infused punch Kuro Zetsu gave him. The left side of his mask was shattered, the jaw part being the only thing left in contact on that particular side. The right side was simply cracked. He slowly stood, his Kamui eye glaring at the black creature.
Kuro returned the glare, his voice full of more enmity than usual. "You little shit…"
"Katon: Endan!" Jiraiya spat out ten fire bullets, all aimed for Zetsu. The latter dodged easily, weaving through the burning bullets with grace that annoyed Obito to no end. He managed to quickly reach Jiraiya in a bout of sudden speed after the tenth bullet raced past his face, his arm pulled back and charged with a chakra fist.
Obito quickly turned his gaze to Jiraiya, teleporting the Sannin away to the real world. Zetsu's fist met air, the charged up chakra dispersing into air.
Kuro turned his head to Obito, his blank expression making the Uchiha flinch. It was emotionless and unreadable—but it was fierce. "You're just wishing for death," he hissed. He raised his hand, his index and middle finger pointing up to the darkness above. Chakra pulsed, and instantly, Obito's eye widened.
Before any pain came to him, he quickly teleported Kuro out of the dimension. He jumped off of the crumpled down rectangular stone plaza, landing softly on the larger stone surface where Minato and Kakashi were at. Kakashi looked like he was on the verge of passing out and Minato was just shocked. The latter was staring at him like he was seeing a mauled corpse walking on its own, and that was starting to scare Obito ever so slightly.
The blonde gaped, his eyes widening even more as his eyes trailed after something that was behind Obito. "Watch out!"
Obito's eye widened. He whipped around, and saw Kuro Zetsu again. He stared in shock, frozen in his spot, and overly confused. I teleported him out of here. How is he—
His train of thought was cut off by pain. It came from the center of his stomach, numbing his body like he was stabbed numerous time. He felt something wet drip. His eye widened. He wheezed, coughing up a glob of blood as he finally realized what had just happened to him. The remaining crimson liquid spilled down his chin, dripping onto his cloak as he gritted his teeth together.
Zetsu chuckled dryly. "Don't think you can get away from everything so easily, Obito," he said coldly as he pulled out his bloody arm from his stomach, making Obito gasp and cough up even more blood than before.
He stumbled back a few steps, groaning in pain as he put his hand over the gaping hole.
"Raikiri!" The lightning blade cut through Kuro's abdomen quickly and roughly, "killing" the creature in an instant. The two body pieces fell, but Obito knew that cutting the thing in half wouldn't do anything much. It'd only slow him down.
Kakashi quickly caught the Uchiha as the latter started falling, slowly putting the Uchiha's head down on his thighs as he sat on his knees.
Obito coughed again, feeling his head rest on Kakashi's lap. He stared up at the silver haired jōnin for a few seconds before he closed his eye, trying his best to ignore Rin's voice as she started telling him about her death, what she felt, and her final emotion—it was all part of the fūinjutsu, though. Using Rin for psychological torture had happened to him one other time; he nearly snapped, and he would've if it wasn't for Guruguru.
Not to mention, his physical pain was quadrupled, thanks to Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin, and Kyōka Fūin; his chakra was slowly, but surely, being drained away. Emotional pain was unmeasurable. It hurt listening to the words spoken by the dead illusion. Internally, he chuckled darkly, a tiny and near unnoticeable remorseful smile growing on his half covered face. Kuro was right…I'm wishing for death, aren't I?
"…And you should've seen the blood! The blood was ridiculous…it tasted really bad…did you notice the way Kakashi look? His expression was so fucking priceless—and so was yours, too! Did you see those Kiri-nin…? Haha! They were absolutely horrified!"
Obito cringed at Rin's rant. He could already start seeing a burning Konoha, a dead, mauled and bloody former Team Minato, and himself being the cause of it all. He swallowed a forming lump in his throat as he slowly opened his eye, feeling droplets on his cheek coming from above—right where Kakashi's face hovered.
…He's crying… he silently realized.
"…Y-you're alive…" the Hatake murmured sadly in realization. "…You're alive…"
The Uchiha glanced up at his former teammate, grimacing when he saw the results of the psychological torture that was mellowly happening in the background. Half of Kakashi's face was burned, and a chunk of flesh was missing at the base of his neck, like something bit out of it, and he was drenched in his own blood.
Then he looked at Minato; his sensei had no right arm, and there was a slash across his chest. He, too, was sitting down, only he was by Obito's stomach, obviously trying to heal him. Both were covered in small and deep cuts and bruises.
The Namikaze sniffed. "Your cloak is covered in blood…where did it come from?"
Obito closed his eyes again, a weak and short-lived sigh leaving his throat. "The Kiri-nin…" he whispered, "…who made Rin a jinchūriki…"
Kakashi froze. "You…saw that…?"
"Couldn't miss that shit for the world!" Rin cried—literally cried. She laughed like a maniac, insanity soaking her next sentences. "Now, I demand you tell me why you didn't save me! You had a chance, Obito! And you didn't take it! You weak little bitch!"
The Uchiha winced, not trusting his words. He just settled for a small nod, tears pricking at his eye. It wasn't because of the pain, or the fact that he was slowly losing consciousness; he was listening to Rin's words, and it bothered him. She was throwing insults at him, and was starting to kick him. He simply twitched his finger every time she "kicked" as a reaction; it could barely rival the pain he was currently feeling.
Minato blinked, his worried gaze turning towards Obito's wrists. He narrowed his eyes, stopping Shōsen Jutsu and lifting up the sleeve. His eyes widened. Shit…all three of the seals are activated.
"Sensei?" Kakashi glanced at Minato. "What's wrong?"
"We have to get him out of here," he said sternly. "Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin, Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku and Shinrisensō Fūin are activated along with Kyōka Fūin. If we stay here any longer, he's gonna die very quickly."
Obito felt Kakashi stiffen. He chuckled lightly, opening his eye and glancing at his former sensei with his Kamui. He smiled bitterly. "Tsunade is in Kin no Sato," he rasped. "Go get her."
He blinked dumbly, opening his mouth to question it, when suddenly, he felt himself get pulled out of the dimension. His eyes widened as he landed in a clearing, frozen in shock.
Meanwhile, Obito was starting to shake; he could feel himself shutting down from the physical and mental stress he was experiencing, and he knew that he needed to stay awake. Naruto and Kakashi were still in the dimension—and one of them was not even an hour old.
"Guruguru," he said quietly as he looked up at the still crying and half burned Kakashi.
The Hatake blinked, his voice cracking as he spoke. "Who?"
"He's talking about me," the doubled voice of Guruguru said.
Both shinobi turned their heads towards the swirly masked spawn. Obito cringed painfully when he saw him, as Guruguru was soaked in blood. Naruto, however, was untouched by the illusion—thankfully. Guruguru sat down across from Kakashi, shifting Naruto around so then the newborn was still comfortable. Kakashi blinked dumbly, sniffing. "What are you?"
"Brother clone to Shiro Zetsu, I guess you could say," Guruguru said. "My name is Tobi, but my nickname is Guruguru, thanks to this idiot here." He poked Obito's shoulder, making the latter flinch. He scoffed lightly. "You're in more pain than I thought…are you planning on dying here?"
"He had Minato-sensei to go and find Tsunade," Kakashi pointed out quickly. "I don't know how he's going to get back though…"
"His Hiraishin kunai is still here," Guruguru stated, his face turned towards the kunai. "He can teleport back. Here, take Naruto." He put the newborn in Obito's right arm, ignoring the pained glare he was gaining from the Uchiha. He picked up the kunai, returning to his spot a second later with the kunai looped around his finger. He swung it around and around in a circle.
Obito stared, half of his attention towards the pain of severe chakra and physical exhaustion. "…Take the brat…will ya…?"
"Sorry, I have a sharp object," Guruguru shot back. "Babies can't be around sharp objects, silly!" He giggled.
Kakashi internally sighed, his fingers playing with a few strands of Obito's hair as he started bickering with Guruguru. He noticed the little things as he continued staring: How the scars were imprinted on his skin, how the Uchiha got paler and weaker by every passing second, how haunted he looked, how comparable he seemed to a scarred kitten…
The Hatake grimaced beneath his mask. Once he gave it thought, Obito was much more quieter than from what he remembered. He also remembered how uneasy the Uchiha was around him and Minato—how scared he looked underneath his shattered flame patterned mask. I wonder if he'll still act like that after we get him healed up… he thought.
The wet coughing and crimson blood that followed snapped Kakashi out of his thoughts. He glanced down at the Uchiha, noticing that he was almost as white as Guruguru. His breathing was rasped and wet from the blood in his throat. He looked absolutely exhausted. His one remaining eye was glazed over, giving Kakashi the "dead" look he was all too familiar with.
Guruguru took Naruto, putting the newborn back into his arms as Kakashi pulled Obito closer, digging his face into the dying Uchiha's crown. He felt more tears fall; they were falling uncontrollably, and he didn't like it.
Guruguru sighed heavily. "Shinrisensō Fūin ain't being very nice today…"
Kakashi ignored the mutated human creature, just staying in his position for what seemed like eternity. He felt Obito's chest rising and falling slowly, and he could practically hear the battle as Obito fought to stay conscious. It seemed like hours passed before Minato's chakra signature flared, both him and a woman he presumed to be Senju Tsunade landing next to Guruguru.
"Who the hell are you two brats?" the woman, who was then undeniably Tsunade, demanded.
"You need not worry," Guruguru started, "for I am awesome! And I'm Obito's companion. Name's Tobi, but I'm called Guruguru, thanks to that moron," he pointed at Obito, "who is currently dying. Glad you could make it."
"Whatever," Minato said. "Kakashi, how is he doing?"
"Terrible," the Hatake replied hoarsely as he finally let go of the Uchiha, gently putting his head down. "He's practically dead at this point…"
"Tsunade-sama…" the Namikaze started, but he was waved off by the Senju.
She shooed Guruguru away, sitting on her knees next to Obito. She pulled up his sleeve to reveal the seals that seemed to be the center of all problems. She sighed. "You weren't kidding when you said that the seals would be lethal…the only way to break them would be to enter his mind," she said. "If Kyōka Fūin is on here, then even I won't be able to break the cuffs without hurting him…"
"Understandable," Minato muttered.
Tsunade turned her gaze to the hole in the fifteen year olds gut. She swallowed thickly upon seeing the blood, standing still for many moments, but she sighed. She lifted her hands, and started performing a stronger version Shōsen Jutsu while keep her eyes on her knees, whereas Minato was performing the weaker stage of said jutsu. Her eyes narrowed for a few seconds as her hands scanned his entire body. They widened dramatically after she was done scanning Obito. "What the fuck…" she murmured.
"What?" Kakashi asked frantically.
"G-genjutsu!" she exclaimed. "This entire place—genjutsu! Kai!"
Suddenly, Guruguru, Obito and Naruto disappeared as the genjutsu was broken, followed by the rectangular stone blocks. Everything was replaced by grass—they were in a clearing, surrounded by trees. The moon was their only light source, and in the distance, they saw the lights of Konohagakure no Sato.
"What the hell…" Minato whispered. His eyes widened in realization a second later. "Where's Naruto?!"
"Calm down!" Tsunade hissed as she stood. "Stretch out your senses. You can feel him, can't you?"
Once Minato calmed his mind down—which took a full minute—he stretched out his senses, sensing around for little Naruto and Obito. They managed to find the two of them. They were all the way out towards the north, a quarter of a mile from where they were. And there was a third and fourth signature. None of them knew who the third and fourth were, but Kakashi had a feeling one of them was likely Guruguru. "Come on," the Hatake said as he nearly gagged on the scent of Obito's blood, "we have to hurry."
None of them waited; they all dashed towards the four quickly moving chakra signatures.
"So, mind telling me what this is all about?" Shiro Zetsu questioned. "Taking Naruto and running away, I mean. Why did you do that? You said you'd return him, correct?"
"Kuro Zetsu is out there," Obito croaked. Guruguru was wrapped around him once again, his blood-stained cloak on the outside along with the uchiwa gunbai. There was a hole in his stomach where Kuro Zetsu had stabbed him earlier, and it was still extremely painful. Guruguru was the one who was moving him. His head was exposed, his arms underneath Guruguru's twisted and swirly skin in order to carry baby Naruto, whose head was poking out enough to let him breathe.
When he spoke, he spoke quietly—he was back to his old self: His comparable-to-a-scarred-kitten self, "He's most likely waiting for Naruto by Kushina-chan…ready to kill him…" He coughed up a large glob of blood, wheezing for air as Guruguru continued jumping from tree branch to tree branch.
"That's true, I guess…" Shiro mumbled. "But what about Potato-chan and Tomato-chan? Surely they would want their brat back…"
"They will," Obito said hoarsely. "But…Kuro Zetsu is our problem. Not theirs…I don't want to drag them into the situation…"
"He's basically protecting Naruto," Guruguru explained telepathically. "And he's being a selfless idiot by not dragging Naruto's parents in by dragging their child in. Ha! Stupid plan. Just admit it, you want to raise him."
"No. Shut your mouth," the Uchiha rasped.
"Ooo~, he's in denial~!" Guruguru cackled.
Obito scoffed irritably, glaring. "Just shut up."
The sharp and irritated voice made Naruto uneasy. The newborn shifted, whimpering as he became aware of the moving world around him. Obito winced, holding Naruto closer in attempts to keep the kid warmer. He shushed the newborn Uzumaki, slowly lulling him back into sleep.
Shiro Zetsu whistled. "Well, you'll be a good daddy. But where are we going to live?"
"…I don't know," Obito muttered quietly as he pulled the rest of his shattered flame patterned mask off. "But first thing is first…we need to lose Minato-sensei…and then heal up…well, I guess a hospital will do. Do you think that's worth the trouble?"
"We have a newborn brat, and we are rather clueless," Guruguru pointed out. "I think a hospital is the best choice right now."
"Reasonable," Obito murmured as he tucked himself further into Guruguru's hollow body. "They're here."
Shiro Zetsu stopped tree jumping rather abruptly; he sunk into the bark. Guruguru, on the other hand, wrapped the rest of his body around Obito and Naruto, slipping the hood on over his head to make it seem like he was Obito, considering the gunbai was on the outside as well, strapped around his back.
Obito tried to reactivate his dōjutsu, but flinched painfully. He didn't have enough chakra. He sneered. Kamui was his prime escape, and while he did have alternatives, they were all reckless. He had a newborn in his arms; he couldn't do anything about it.
"I can trust you to the fighting, right?" Obito murmured to Guruguru.
"Yes," he responded. "Just make sure Naruto stays intact."
A small and thin smile made its way to Obito's lips as he internally nodded half to himself. He tightened his arms around said newborn, bracing himself as he felt Tsunade's signature approach them with her chakra fist. It advanced closer to the point of where her fist was only an inch away from the back of Guruguru's head, and he didn't move until the last minute. He quickly ducked backwards, arching his back and aiming a kick for Tsunade's face.
The Sannin blocked, backing away when she heard Obito grunt in pain; she knew that she had to be careful, mainly because he was the one who knew where Naruto was at. She jumped back a few branches, Minato and Kakashi joining her side a moment later.
Guruguru himself landed softly and carefully, slowly standing up. "Can't even move without hearing you drown in your misery. Do you need a band-aid?" he teased.
Obito simply scoffed, grimacing when he saw what Tsunade, who had no head. "Let's just get this over with…" he whispered under his breath. He could already feel Naruto squirming under the blankets.
"You're Tobi…" Minato said. His eyes narrowed. "Where are Obito and Naruto?"
"They're both here," Shiro Zetsu said as he pulled himself out of the ground. He grinned. "You should watch your punches, Tsunade…"
The three stared for a few seconds, confusion clouding their expressions. Guruguru giggled, rushing forward with his hands in the ram hand seal. A wooden stake grew out of his left hand, and he threw the projectile. It aimed straight for Kakashi's right arm, successfully hitting and allowing more branches to duplicate and tear through flesh from the inside out.
Tsunade stared in surprise at the technique—a Wood Release technique. But, of course, her surprise was her downfall as she felt pain in her abdomen; it duplicated, and she found herself coughing up blood as she fell down roughly onto her back, making the wound worse.
Minato's eyes widened. He dodged the first projectile, but was caught by Guruguru. His winced as he felt his badly sprained hand get gripped underneath a strong hand, his left thigh being impaled by the wooden stake. The wood went through and through, the extra branches pinning him down to the tree trunk. Guruguru, then, pulled his hood off, his face opening up to reveal an alarmingly pale and bloody Obito. The latter was panting, and he looked like he was really dead. "O-Obito—"
"Don't…" the Uchiha murmured. "Don't follow…Kuro Zetsu…will kill me and Naruto without any hesitation."
"But…we can protect you…" Minato pointed out slowly and quietly.
"No…" Obito said, coughing wetly. He slowly shook his head. "He's impossible to kill."
The Namikaze paused at that. He blinked slowly, trying to think of some sort of alternative. He knew when someone was dead set on something, and Obito was dead set on getting Naruto away from Konohan civilization instantly. The blonde slowly reached out, his hand ruffling Obito's hair. A small and reluctant—but genuine—smile spread across his lips. He also left a Hiraishin mark. "Alright…just…come visit some time…okay? And bring Naruto with you…please…?"
Obito simply nodded, Guruguru closing up again. He slipped his hood on, and continued jumping away. Shiro Zetsu followed, and they left behind a silently crying blonde Kage, a cursing and sputtering injured Sannin and a quiet silver haired jōnin to wonder what the hell just happened to him.
Obito's eye snapped open to hear the sharp and ghost-like voice of a baby. He shot up in alarm, his eye frantically searching the white room he was in. But he was roughly pushed back down by firm hands. His head snapped towards the person, who turned out to be a nurse. He glared. "What are you doing?"
She blinked, giving him the "are you fucking dumb" look. "What do you think, Uchiha-san? You're in a hospital, and you're perfectly safe here. So don't get all jittery on my ass. Now, tell me, what woke you up? I predicted that you were to wake up in a month, not a week."
Obito blinked, indirectly avoiding the question. "That's how long I've been out? Seven days?"
"Yes…" the nurse muttered. "You were experiencing physical, emotional and mental trauma and stress, not to mention, you lost almost seventy percent of your blood and you had a failing heart. And to add to that already ridiculous pile of bullshit, you had severe chakra exhaustion to the point of where your organs were on the verge of failing. What the hell have you been doing that got you all jacked up, anyway, huh? And these seals! Don't even get me started on these stupid seals. They were a pain in the ass to deactivate because of that damnable Kyōka Fūin…"
Obito blinked again. "You're a fūinjutsu master?" He didn't necessarily say "shinobi". Mainly because back in his genin days, he met a few civilians who knew some jutsu's, though they were not really shinobi.
"Yes. I am…sort of…a good friend of mine taught me some fūinjutsu…" she said, her pink hair matching her cheeks. "But I am a medic kunoichi…"
"That's nice," he murmured. He looked outside the window. It was evening, from what he could tell, and it looked like it was going to snow again. "Where am I, exactly? I don't really recall anything happening before I woke up here…"
"Well, your…oddball friends showed up with a newborn and you," she started explaining, "and you had passed out long ago. I don't know where your buddy's are anymore, but they won't cause any danger to the other patients, will they? 'Cause they sure as hell didn't look very human."
He closed his eye. "They won't cause trouble…they're curious, but they won't cause trouble…" he murmured. "Where's Naruto?"
"You mean the newborn?" He nodded. "Where the rest of the newborns are at. I presume you're his guardian or something?"
"…You can say that," he muttered quietly.
The nurse adapted an odd look before continuing, "Well, if you're clueless—"
"And I am."
"—then I'll give you a list of what you should do, and what you should not do, and how you should do certain other things, and what things you need to look after. And if you want, I can give you training if you need any," she said. "He'll be discharged at a different time as you, maybe earlier, maybe later…I don't really know, it just depends on his condition. Is there anything else you want to know?"
"Yes. What's your name?" Obito questioned as he glanced at her after opening his eye.
"Uh, my name?" she asked. "My last name? Or my full name?"
"I could care less," he grumbled. "I don't think calling you Pinky-chan—"
"I don't like that name," she said in a bitter sweet manner. She smiled. "So I'll go ahead and tell you. My name is Haruno Sakura."
"Katon: Endan": "Fire Release: Fire Bullets"
"Shōsen Jutsu": "Mystical Palm Technique?"; "Art of the Mystical Palm?"
"Raikiri": "Lighting Blade"
*cough*
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…Don't give me that look. Ya'll shouldn't be surprised if you visited my profile; there are status's of upcoming chapters, and the story plot itself.
So don't give me that look.
And yes, I can TOTALLY see you. *cough*
So, yeah. That happened.
Anyways, yes. Minato was reluctant. Yes, OOCness on Tsunade's part. Yes, angst. Yes, I had to laugh out loud to get rid of the feels. Really, I had to. That's why I have two best friends, two friends and, like, fifteen acquaintances. They all think I'm fucking weird. Sort of. They give me those looks.
Anyhow, after the next chapter, there will be a seven year time skip, a major surprise, and another time skip by Chapter 8 or 9. And then the story will most likely end at, like, chapter 13 or something. I hate writing long-term stories, even though I have long-term plans.
Makes shit rather choppy.
Preview:
"I would not stress about it. Worrying about the little things will add a grey hair to that bright pink hair of yours."
Sakura blinked dumbly. "Are you kidding me? This is huge! He's fucking dead, and you're telling me not to worry about it?"
Obito turned his head towards her, abruptly stopping the walk and narrowing his eye again. "Yes."
"What the fuck," she seethed silently. "Why are you so relaxed about it? Shannarō!"
"I am not relaxed about it," he shot back, "because my world is on the verge of shattering." He started walking again, pressing the elevator button to go down to the first floor. It rang, and the two stepped in. "I expect you guys to not mess up…"
Peace! :3