Atlas Wilds

by Nasha Rei-Kun

If the gang situation around Atlas would cause him so much trouble, Obito would handle it no matter what. For his family. For the people in Mantle. And definitely for himself. He'd become the biggest gang of the underground or destroy all of it from the inside out.

1. The Tide Changed

~NRK~

He watched the man pace back and forth in front of him.

Black eyes, one of which was covered by bandages, followed him with a neutral expression on the fair-skinned face they resided in.

"Why do you take so long to learn?" The man said with a growl, his black eyes all that the young teen had in common beside their genders. "Every time, it's like you ask for it."

Spiky black hair shifted as he looked up at the man as he came in close, the man's black hair holding a pair of black tiger's ears within them.

"Speak, Obito."

"They were picking on my classmates," The Obito, former monster and now a child once more, said as he stood there in a patched-up black sweater, gray sweats, and shoddy-looking boots. "We fought and I won."

"..." The man's eyes twitched and Obito's head tossed to the side as a hand clapped against the side of his face. "You don't fight back. You keep ruining your sister's chances the more you do."

Obito questioned if the man even knew what he was talking about as his wrinkled black skin creased in annoyed patience. "Very well, sir," he didn't hiss the word.

He'd gotten used to the man's hits, he always seemed to find a reason, after all.

The man grunted as he walked off into their… well not shoddy but certainly not a well-made home. His grimy brown shirt covered in soot marks as along with his black overalls and boots, the man's hardhat sitting on a nail in the wall by his side.

As Obito rubbed his cheek, he walked out the door for a moment and spit outside, blood and a tooth finding its way out into the snow.

He sighed. 'Who'd thought my new father would be such a violent man?' Well, to be fair…

The man had been betrayed by human mother, so he might have been taking his rage out on him for that. Hell, he wasn't even his child so that title really should have stopped sticking.

Closing the door, once he was back inside, Obito simply walked to the left by the living room/foyer mix and found himself in a small room.

There was no door, he hadn't been able to make something like that, but inside he'd furnished it as best as their meager means could.

"..." A shame-filled boy within had his head down, the similar features to their… his father sat on a young face but with orange eyes that shined with guilt that Obito waved off.

He ruffled the young child's hair, his body covered by many patched-together quilts.

"It's fine, Marrone," Obito said with his slightly swollen cheek, going to a wooden desk by the entryway. "How was school?"

The small tiger boy sniffled before getting out of the wooden bed filled with cushions.

Obito sighed softly before he stood by his chair.

Lifting Marrone up, Obito held him in his lap as he put his things on his work table from his burlap sack bag.

He opened his books before going to the back of it. "Alright, just like last time. Each letter, alright?" The boy nodded, huddling into his chest more.

They went through his letters, numbers, small sentences, and then a book.

About two hours later, they heard the front door open.

Steps carried a young woman two years Obito's senior into the room.

She was like his little brother in features but on a female face and with more angular features with sharper eyes and hair that was smoothed out at the sides of her head, her tiger ears, and tail, flicking as she looked down at the two.

Dressed in black sweatpants with a hole or two in them, wrapping-tied feet inside some sandals, a heavy-looking red coat, and a shawl over her head, the oldest of three siblings frowned.

Or, really, the oldest of two what with how they were truly related.

"Sienna?" Marrone said quietly as the teen's eyes softened before growing conflicted as her gaze landed on the neatly-writing-out-equations Obito.

"... What did dad do?" She asked roughly.

"Nothing," he said simply and her eyes looked away from him.

"Well, nothing better not happen again, I have friends coming over," she said harshly as she left the room. "... Marrone, dinner's going to be ready in 30 minutes," Sienna added without looking at the two.

She walked out the room and into the living room, expression tightening as her fists clenched.

Then she heard their voices.

"... I don't like it," Marrone had said.

"She's not father," Obito had said, causing Sienna's lips to peel back as she looked at the ground. "It's honestly more than I expected ever since back then."

"Snff, you don't tell me."

"Of course I don't, you don't need to worry about it. It's not something for children."

She walked away as quietly as she could, going into her room and throwing her stuff down on a mattress on the floor before dropping carefully onto a chair by a desk.

"Just keep it up," she told herself in a harsh whisper. "Just keep going."

Don't give in, keep focusing on your work. Apply the focus and the facade and things would go her way, eventually.

'He did it again,' she thought with a deep frown. 'I need to ask Marrone what happened.'

The boy was bound to have been involved, considering her… her family's black sheep's behavior on damn-near all days.

'Fuck,' she cursed before opening up her books, notebooks, and textbooks. 'Fuck you, bitch! Why'd you ruin everything?!' Sienna had this thought more times than she could have counted.

All because of that human bitch everything seemed to have gone downhill and now her… he wasn't even related to them, their resident helper and her father-

"Sienna," Sienna jumped as her father appeared in her doorway, sighing. "I'm not going to be home so make sure Marrone eats," the man said. "I also need to get in contact with some parents."

"Huh?" Sienna blinked before flinching back at her dad's sneer.

"That boy decided he wanted to fight today," he hissed before leaving. "YOU HEAR ME BOY?! DO NOT PULL THAT SHIT I HEARD TODAY AGAIN OR WE'LL BE SPEAKING WITH MORE THAN MY HANDS!"

Sienna bit her lip as her hands clenched and her head fell. 'Two more years…' That's all she needed.

Things would be easier then.

~NRK~

Night fell and Sienna sighed as she closed her book.

'I barely got anything done today.'

With the sheer number of extra credits she needed, Sienna was finding her shoulders growing stiff.

Then there was a knock on her door and she flinched, head turning to see… her shoulders sagged. "What do you want?" She asked, bluntly, as Obito stood there, eyebrow raised.

"Are there more assignments that need to be done?" He asked and Sienna blinked thrice before grunting as she crossed her arms. "So, no?"

"... There are five," she said as he walked over, his form leaning over the side of her seat to look at those. "... They're advanced credit."

"About the old wars over rights between the miners of Mantle and the rise in the industry," he said slowly, breath frosting in the always cold air that grew worse at night. "I remember that from the library."

Sienna's eyes went from him and back to the papers in surprise. 'Why are you reading so far ahead? You're a Freshman,' she frowned as she held his cheek and turned it towards her. "God, can he not make this a bit easier to hide?" Sienna groaned as she got up before going to a chest by her bed.

Scrounging around in it for a moment, she pulled out a small white box and walked over to Obito.

"..." She blushed a bit with a growl as she looked at him and he nodded.

Obito peeled off his top and groaned in the cold nighttime air, folding it underarm.

Sienna saw lean, malnourished, muscles and veins. 'Too lean, he'd said, right?' How could you be too lean anyway? 'Haa…'

She looked at his left shoulder, right under his left eye, where a bruise was forming and she growled involuntarily before applying the salve Obito had convinced her to make.

Was it wrong for her to say she'd hated that in the beginning? All that work for a small pack of salve… before immediately having to use it the next day?

Yeah, she'd become a bit more… accepting of him after everything that happened with their father's second lover, Obito's mom.

As she plastered it onto his shoulder and chest, Sienna noted how, despite being a boy, he was still shorter than her by a few inches.

Maybe it was the lack of eating. Maybe it was his lack of any other exercise than the ones he did at him. Sienna didn't know that kind of stuff.

Most boys his age were already around her height or taller. She knew that food was a part of all of this but, once again, didn't know this stuff.

So, she focused on applying the salve and stuff before finishing-off Obito's bandages, his eye closed as she leaned in closer.

'His hair's getting long,' she thought as their tresses touched before her eyes widened and she leaned back in an instant, face hot. 'Dammit! Do not, gods!' Sienna groaned and Obito opened his eye.

"Everything alright?" He asked and she sighed.

"Y-Yeah. Go and take them," Sienna said as Obito nodded, putting back on his clothes.

"Thanks," he did as she said, taking them up before considering something. "Did you eat?"

"..." Her stomach growled and Sienna growled herself. "Fuck off."

He shrugged before doing as said, leaving her to her business.

Sienna groaned as she looked at her desk before going to her bed and kneeling down before flopping down on it.

"Two more years," she sighed hotly, stuffing her face into her mattress. "Two more fucking years…"

~NRK~

The following morning, Sienna awoke to knocking on her door's entryway.

"H-Hmmm?" She looked up blearily to see Obito and Marrone, the former dressed as he'd been yesterday. "Ugghhh… Dammit, it's Saturday," Sienna moaned and he chuckled.

"It might be but Mr. Moreno isn't home, so I'm letting you know I'm not here," Obito said as she sat up with a sigh.

"How long?"

"It's a four-hour session for those of us who want to skip grades," Obito said and she rubbed the back of her head. "So, like you, I'll be trying to get through my school life as soon as possible."

"... R-Right," gods was she being a good influence or a bad one? "Dammit. You're not trying to get into college at the same time, are you?"

"No…" Obito said slowly as his eye flicked to Marrone's form for a moment. "Besides, even if I did, I'd just commute."

Always for Marrone… and maybe her, as well, Sienna realized that her family could be MUCH BETTER… but her siblings were probably some of the best she could have gotten.

"Ugh, where is it?"

"It's a bit further into town. I'll probably stop by Mrs. Stone," he said clearly as both his former siblings perked up. "We'll see if I can't grab something back for us."

Sienna tried to hide her expression but couldn't hide her stomach's growl.

"R-Right, yeah, well, get out. I don't want to see you for six hours," she said, shakily, as he chuckled before bringing something over to her desk, much to her disbelief. "A-A-Are you some sort of genius?" Sienna whispered in horror at the completed work.

Obito's work, no matter how long he spent on it, always seemed to end up with high Bs or As.

"... Hmph," she grunted, looking neutral as he nodded.

"I'll be back," he said as he passed Marrone, ruffling his hair.

The door opened and closed moments later.

"... Sis?" The five-year-old boy walked over before going onto her bed, Sienna holding him close as they laid back down. "... Bro's gonna be alright, right?"

Sienna frowned. "... He's lived with it this far, he'll live with it for however long things last this way."

Or however long it'd take for her to nab a better job than her dad's.

~NRK~

Obito walked home in the nice, warm, afternoon rays of Mantle.

Their city beneath another city that floated above it from a crater at the center of their kingdom.

'Fourteen years,' Obito frowned as he carried a brown bag full of day-old bread in his arms. 'Fourteen years of living on Remnant and my life is no less confusing than before.'

Growing up here, in this world, on the continent of Solitas, had been some of the worst conditions he'd ever been in… at least starting back around when he was 6.

His mother, a horrid human being, had cheated on their father and taken from him, and them by a decent extension, by stealing his life savings.

Before that event, Moreno Khan had been a rather hurt man whose first wife died, Sienna's mother, and had still treated him, a human, as his son… until the truth came out around Obito's sixth birthday that he wasn't the man's son.

Things seemed to spiral from there. Nowadays, the man's rage, hurt, and vengeance were at an all-time high on his best of days when it came to him and while Obito certainly found no love for him, he didn't hate him. Perhaps this was his punishment for his previous life's sins. He'd deal with it if only because he deserved it.

At present, Marrone's mother was working almost day and night so they never really saw her, she lived in another home with her parents, but the times they did meet. Obito wasn't surprised by her hesitation to get close to him, it'd never surprised him with most of the Faunus, the race of human-like fold with animal traits, around him.

With the history between Faunus and humans on this planet, they all harbored deep-rooted hate for his very existence despite both they, and other humans, were all in poverty.

He sighed as he waited for the bus at a bus stop, the graffiti on the seat leaving him certainly not liking the idea of sitting on it.

Oh, right, a distinction.

This was the Kingdom of Atlas… but the 'real' part would be up above on the floating city most would call 'Atlas' while down here was Mantle, the poorest, most dilapidated area of the Kingdom.

To be fair, the closer you got to the bullhead stations towards the city, the better-looking the place was but that's if you were lucky or had a decent-paying job.

Back on Mantle, there was also the rampant gang violence about that made everyday life difficult if you didn't know how to navigate the world below, you were shit out of luck.

The schools were part-way between the 'bad' and 'good' sections, leaving Obito always passing by nice-looking stores and clean sidewalks on his way back home every time.

He leaned back and dodged a rock thrown by a female Faunus woman who hid her kids behind her, looking at her, she flinched at his bandaged side before staying outside of the bus stop booth.

'You only cared when you knew I was injured,' why throw the rock in the first place?

Looking at the growling boy at her side, both she, he, and the frightened girl next to them having long rat-like tails, Obito saw his hand reaching for some rubble on the sidewalk.

His eye went flat and the kid flinched before Obito sighed as he focused back on his thoughts.

So, that was the perp, so to speak.

'Seriously, the general needs to come down here ASAP.'

Up above, there'd been a new general of the army who'd said he wanted to trickle the wealth down to Mantle and Obito wasn't a fool. Despite how slow it was, the man was doing actual good change.

Six years ago, the high schools didn't accept Faunus students but they'd gotten more funding when they did. Following that, more Faunus, not a lot but enough to see, were seen on this side of Mantle.

It was a change that he was sure Sienna was gunning for the chance at and Obito could certainly believe and help her when he could.

Despite her outward acts toward him when Moreno was home… she was clearly doing this all for the sake of not causing an issue. Likely aiming for a good-paying job to ease things down here and maybe bring their father's way of thinking back to normal and maybe see what he was doing for what it was.

So, Obito had committed himself to her and Marrone, he'd make it so their efforts, mostly hers, weren't for naught in any way he could. That's why he and Marrone studied together so much even if the boy just liked being with him.

It was why Obito read, studied, and learned beyond his peers of this world. Absorb all of it so that he could give Sienna and Marrone knowledge they couldn't get normally.

The bus came and he turned his head to the mother and her children as they came around to the back of the bus and entered from there, the sound of a fight grating on his ears.

"You coming in?" Came the bus driver's voice, from the front of the bus, all smiles. "That bitch didn't give you trouble, ya?" He asked with glee.

'Looking for some trouble or a sickening fun time?' Obito didn't say it out loud, though. "No, I'm good," he came on and pulled some Lien out of his pocket.

Paying his fare, he'd turned to the bus and got a seat in the middle, thankful for how little people were on it.

The woman from before was arguing with one of the Faunus all seated at the back about something. Obito didn't know what but it seemed personal.

"I can't, Coil… I-I just can't," he heard from the woman.

"We need intel. Do you know how difficult it is to get info on those bitches on the left side of the city?" The male Faunus hissed at her as her son got aggressive.

"I'll do it, ya ass! Leave my mom alone!" The boy growled as the man snorted.

"Kid, this kind of life you ain't ready fer. Let your mom handle this before you lose that smart mouth of yours."

"I can handle it!"

Obito's eyebrows lowered as he looked back discreetly, the man was smirking as the kid growled at him.

The woman looked horrified along with her daughter before the man laughed.

"Alright! Let's see how you fare, ya brat," he grinned, bringing out a bit of black stone and a piece of paper.

He worked the pen onto the parchment and Obito's eye narrowed as he replayed the man's movement in his head.

Without his Sharingan, this was a bit more difficult but he wasn't some green genin.

He'd, at one point, been the most powerful man in the world. This was even a good part of his mental training with Madara.

'Caver Street?' The boy had taken the paper and the Faunus man grinned before calling the bus to a stop, the human boy's head already turned back around.

A purple diamond tattoo on his shoulder was all Obito saw before he was running down the street.

He waited for the man to leave before repeating his strokes into his palm.

Caver Street, the Burst Brights.

Go in and find the woman with silver hair.

Find out about something called the 'Launch' and its increased security.

His eye narrowed. 'The Launch?' What could that mean? '... Wait, no, it's none of my business, dammit,' why did he care?

This wasn't his business.

As the bus came to a stop two blocks down, that family of three got off, the boy looking more nervous than he'd ever been before.

Obito sighed. "I suggest you actually let someone else handle it," he said to the three who froze. "Do you even understand what you're getting involved with?"

"Fuck off, Human!" The boy said and the driver at the front looked ready to get up.

Obito shook his head at the man as he looked at the growling boy. "You're stepping into territory you don't know how to get out of. Is now the time for your one racism?"

"E-Excuse me?!" The boy looked offended. "I'll kick ya teeth in."

"Stronger than you have tried," Obito sighed. "Take the hint and don't ruin your life, kid. You only get one, now get off," he said as the boy boiled red.

Obito glanced at him and the bus, its occupants, and the driver froze at a feeling of sharp chill in their spines.

"Leave."

The boy shivered as his mother grabbed him and his sister and took off in a run of fear.

Dammit.

~NRK~

When he got home, he noted the lack of many families on the streets.

'The truck hasn't come back yet,' he understood as he opened the door to the home with a key Sienna had slipped to him once.

All under the guise of 'Don't leave Marrone alone or I'll kill you' but it was the thought that counted.

"I'm back!" He said to the house and rapid small steps caused his heart to warm a bit as Marrone rounded the corner outside of Sienna's room.

"Bro!" The small tiger Faunus cheered as Obito nodded to him. "D-Did you?!" He looked excited before cheering as Obito closed the door and handed him the paper bag. "YES! Sie!"

Sienna came out and looked at the bag with much interest. "Oh, crap, you got a lot."

"I helped her out with a rush-hour order, she gave me more than usual," Obito answered as he took off his boots before taking all his things into his and Marrone's room. "Pheewww," he breathed out and frowned at his breath. "I'll go and get some wood."

Sienna winced. "No. I don't need your ass attracting attentions," stay home, you've done enough.

"Attentions isn't proper. It's attention if it's one or more people," Obito said as she froze before blushing a bit and going back to her room.

The sound of something being written down got a laugh out of him as Marrone took the bread into the kitchen.

"Don't run," was all Obito said as he put his things away. "Snff… Snff-snff," he smelled his clothes. 'Nothing bad yet. I'll need to do the laundry, soon, anyway, though.'

Leaving his room, he went to the kitchen area which was connected to the living room with Sienna's room entryway right by the divide, the teen coming out of it with a slightly red face.

Obito simply hummed and she grumbled.

Going into the kitchen proper, there was a small fridge, a wooden table with five wooden chairs, a sink, a small pantry, and a counter by it.

It wasn't a lot. They didn't have a microwave, not that Obito cared for it, a decent pantry, cabinets, or a proper stove.

It was all they had, though.

Marrone was at the table, the bag being opened as his older family members came over.

"Did anything else happen outside?" Sienna asked as Marrone took out a pastry with some jelly filling. "H-Hey, hold on, share!"

The boy nodded as he broke the bread into three-

"Nope," Obito took it, broke it in half, and handed both back the pieces. "I don't like jelly-filled, Marrone."

The boy pouted as he bit into it before he struggled to keep a pout.

Obito hummed before grabbing a croissant. "Vale-style?" He blinked. "I didn't know she even made these," Obito said as Sienna looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"She's… Mrs. Stone is new here, I guess she wanted to grow her customers first before bringing this kind of bread over here."

They ate in comfortable silence before their ears perked up.

"D-Dad's home!" Marrone said as Obito nodded.

Stuffing his bread into his mouth, he slipped into the bathroom at the end of the kitchen as the door opened.

"I'm home," Moreno said and Sienna and Marrone blinked at the grin on his face. "Huh? Oh, that boy went to that human bakery. Well, what'd he bring that's worth some shit?"

The man didn't look angry when he said this, if anything, he kept on grinning.

Obito came out of the bathroom with a neutral look, Moreno's expression not getting worse… most likely.

The man grinned wider. "And you've got a job to do."

"Huh?" Sienna blinked, confused. "W-What's going on?"

"So, you know that fucker, Jacques?" She nodded as Marrone blinked owlishly. "Well, there's supposed to be a big job that's going to go down in a couple of days. Something called the 'Launch' that everyone wants in on."

Obito's eye widened. 'Wait, what?!' He balked as Moreno grinned at him. "I'd heard about that today. On the bus," the man looked surprised. "I'm pretty sure that was said by a gangster though I can't be sure."

"Hush up, boy, there's no way. This is being arranged by one of the guys down at the job."

"... But then how would I-"

"Ya don't, that's all," the man dismissed him even as Obito grew more concerned. "All you have to do is go in there, butter-up some officials, and make things take off."

"Wait, hold on, what is it?" Sienna asked with a wince. 'What would they need a human kid for?'

"From what I know, there's supposed to be a scam going on. Kids with high grades are going to end up on an SDC bullhead to view the mines. They've done this before and I hear that they let human kids get away with some Dust," the three balked. "Exactly. And we've got one o' them dere little bastards ourselves."

"... Wait, how long has this been going on?" Obito asked and Moreno didn't look that annoyed. "Sir."

"Hmph… from what I know, a couple of months."

A couple of months?! Were these people insane?! "S-Sir, won't they have noticed, on a specific day of the month, every time, they're losing inventory?"

"Boy, you better start talking normal words," his eyes narrowed and Obito resisted the powerful urge to just roll his eyes.

Sienna came in for the save. "He thinks they're gonna noticed that it's been happenin' too oft', dad," she added and Moreno frowned, cupping his chin.

"I doubt it. They've been doing this here run for the past six years, ever since that dumbass general got into power, things have been easier to make use of."

Both Obito and Sienna winced at his thought process. 'Isn't that a GOOD thing? Why are we ruining it?'

No, this was more than just a break of good trust but it was something concerning.

'This… there's no way,' Obito thought. "Caver Street, right?" He said and Moreno's eyes widened. "I wasn't lying when I said I heard what I did… I don't think this is a good idea. He spoke of the Burst Brights. They're literally near Caver Street? That's not… I don't know why that man was on the bus besides trying to get some random woman with two children to help them by sending her kids, I guess?"

"W-Wait, what?" Sienna blinked. "W-What woman?"

"Rat tails?"

"Ms. Dubal," Sienna winced before getting up. "Dad, I'll go and check to make sure this is on the up and up, alright?" She asked and Moreno grimaced. "He knows what he's in for if he lies."

"... Hmph, fine. Check."

"If her son is gone, then things have moved already," Obito said as Sienna looked at him with a confused look. "... The boy took it on himself to take her place for meeting the Burst Brights."

"What?!" Sienna shouted and the three jumped, causing her to freeze. "T-That is, um, that's bad. Very bad."

"What? Why?"

"Because… the Burst Blights are an all-female gang. If that man was trying to get Ms. Dubal to do it… he needed someone who could speak to them without getting caught up," Sienna hissed as she left. "I… I don't like this."

~NRK~

Come evening… Obito grimaced as he and many other kids to teens, human and Faunus alike, were on a bullhead.

Sitting in the back near a girl he was sure was a Faunus, Obito could already see sides had already been decided from the mere moment that the humans were let on first and foremost while the Faunus had been checked without a hint of shame.

Children. Obito was annoyed before but there came a point where he questioned if he couldn't just get his Aura unlocked someday and raze the minds in this city to the ground.

It'd be messy, sure, but he'd be less annoyed and it'd be an overall positive.

'God, I need to calm down,' he rubbed his forehead a bit.

For now, just focus on this dumb mission of his.

"I-I'm fine," came a voice from the right side, the 'Faunus side', of the bullhead. "N-No, seriously, I mean it."

Looking, Obito noted a boy maybe three years his junior with dark skin, long black hair that came down to his back, and a dog tail as his Faunus trait.

Wearing a black sweater, a white skullcap, blue jeans, and some decently-worn black boots, he seemed to be arguing with one of the boys on his side.

His blue eyes spoke of annoyance and worry as the others huddled around him in a hustle that Obito had a good feeling he knew the reason for.

'More kids for this insane plan,' these adults literally made Obito consider Sienna the only viable adult-like authority. 'And this shit's still sketchy!'

Something about this had gone awry the moment they'd left the checkpoint for the SDC building.

As they began to reach the heights of Atlas, something caught Obito's eyes.

Something hiding within the clouds and slowly following.

'... Is that another bullhead?' As he watched from his window seat, he felt his hackles raise as he watched how it stayed in the murky evening sky. "..." His eye narrowed before leaning back in his seat, arms crossed.

Then there was a noise at his side and he turned his head to look at the girl beside him whose olive-colored eyes snapped away from him, her thick, feathery, white hair coming over her ears as her fair skin colored a bit.

Wearing a green, striped, sweater, black tights, and dirty brown boots, her hands were covered by fingerless… gloves that she clearly grew out of with the tips ripped for her bare fingers to slip out.

"Yes?" He asked and she looked at him, shocked, before she paled and looked back down, not saying a thing. "... Okay then."

She flinched but her eyes went back to the human male teen next to her, eyes curious as they landed on his bandages.

"..."

"... Y-You got hurt," she whispered and Obito blinked before looking at her oddly. "T-T-That is…" She clamped up, cheeks bright red, and lip bit down on.

"... My left eye is normally covered," Obito said as she blinked at him. "It's not normal and I doubt my father's too happy seeing it."

"Y-Your dad?" She blinked. "I-I don't have a dad…"

"I can't say I know your life but I can say, right now, I'd rather not have one."

"?" What had he said? "Why?"

"Because he's part of the reason I cover it," Obito said and she blinked before her eyes widened.

The girl looked ill as their bullhead began to descend.

They'd arrived.

~NRK~

"Let me see that eye, boy," one of the men at the front of the screening area said as Obito came up as the 'last human' of the group.

Obito sighed before undoing the bandages to reveal…?!

The man leaned in disgust at the thick black scar over a forever-closed seeing eye.

"Ugh, cover it up," the guy said as Obito rolled his one working one, doing as told. "... I bet it was a real animal."

"..." Obito's eye went flat. "So, I can go through, right?"

"Yeah, go on in. Alright, cattle! Move it!"

Obito rolled his eye as he arrived near the human group who looked disgusted, intrigued, or overall just uncomfortable, his revealed mark there for them all to see.

The teen didn't so much as consider them, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. 'Ah, it's been a while since someone saw this old thing,' he thought as his eye closed. 'I sometimes forget-'

That girl from before came up to him before looking at him with concern.

"As I told you," he said simply as she looked down.

As the rest of the students came in, with much grumbling from the staff, the entire group moved out of the caged-off area into a long hallway that let out into the SDC company's main factory.

Obito blinked as he looked at the clean gray floors, well-lit area, and powerful-looking machinery.

Then a scientist came up to them, dressed as stereotypically as one would expect.

"Welcome!" The man said with a smile. "To the Main SDC factory of Atlas. I'm glad we could have some of the smartest minds from the young generation of Mantle here with us."

All things considered, the man before them seemed remarkably okay with the Faunus in the group, leaving him the most amazing man that Obito had met in a while.

'Man' being the keyword, Sienna was still on his list of top people.

As he took them through the factory, Obito frowned from the back of the human group as he looked to the back, the windows of the area reflecting the lights outside…?

He turned back around and frowned. 'Something's going to happen, this isn't good,' he realized with a frown as they made it past the machinery.

"And, here, we have workers who specialize in keeping the Dust free of loose specks of other Dust particles. Particles being very small bits of things in the world. Everything has particles," the man said excitedly as some of the kids smirked or laughed.

Obito hummed as the girl from before looked on, intrigued.

An hour or so later, the group of kids were in the cafeteria, eating food most of them had never so much as seen in their lives.

"W-Whoa!" The young girl from before gasped as she sat next to him. "I-I've never seen so much food before," she whispered in awe as Obito frowned.

As he ate, he chuckled a bit as she ate, the girl's manners barely there but he understood. It was nice having better food than what could be made up from home.

As they ate, though, Obito's eyes narrowed as he heard heckling from the side and ahead of them.

"W-What's your deal?!" The rat boy from that morning had said to a human boy who'd elbowed him as they ate.

He elbowed back and the two got into an altercation of elbowing that the scientist from before tried to break up.

"H-Hold on now, boys. There's no need for that! There's enough space!" The man tried to say.

"Hmph, not for rats at the table," the human boy hissed and the two began to get up. "What? Problem?"

"Besides looking at your face? Yea."

The two looked ready to come to blows and the only thing stopping them were Obito's hands on their shoulders.

"What's your-" The two began to say before freezing as he squeezed and then trembled.

"Something to say?" He dared them and the boys froze. "Sit down. Shut the fuck up. And eat. So help me, I'll throw both your asses outside this compound and you can walk through Atlas to get home."

They shook their heads and the one-eyed teen crossed his arms at them both.

They quickly found their seats further apart as he looked down on both of them. "This is a warning to ALL of you. If I catch you mucking this up, I'm dealing with you. UNDERSTOOD?"

The kids and teens froze before nodding.

"Hmph," Obito huffed before going back to his seat, sitting down and eating his food despite the eyes on him.

"W-Wow," the girl from before said as he looked at her, chewing on some of their dinner. "?!" She blushed and looked down.

Things went by a bit awkwardly by then but Obito didn't care.

He wasn't having any of it, especially if they ruined his food by making him feel bad for anyone.

---

Twenty minutes later, he was handling their dishes by the nearby sink, kids and teens alike bringing their empty plates to him as he did.

He finished up moments later, fast hands shocking the groups as he dried them in a hand towel the grateful scientist had given him.

"You seem mature for your age… and scary!"

Obito snorted.

~NRK~

Obito might have miscalculated his… newer reputation among these kids.

The young girl from before was seemingly attached to his side, holding onto his sleeve, as the group gave him right of way every time it so much as seemed like they thought they were inconveniencing him.

It got old fast and Obito sighed at the front of the groups, the scientist chuckling as he was.

"Now, this is where we're trying out new technology," the man explained. "Right now, with the general's focus on increasing the city's resources, we're trying to work on a wide heating grid that can span the entirety of Mantle."

The kids looked surprised by this. "R-Really?" That dog boy from before asked in confusion.

"Yes. All things considered, this is a resource everyone will benefit from. The only issue comes from the fact that we simply have to figure out how such a thing can work. It'll have to cover ALL of Mantle, you all know how big that is."

The kids did, the sheer idea of such a thing was horrifying.

"So, for now, we're working on smaller test applications."

A hand raised.

"Yes?"

"What does that mean?" A small human boy asked.

"... Ah, right, 'test applications' means smaller ways of using the idea. In this case. If we could make small heating areas around Mantle instead of trying to cover the entire thing, it'd be an easier way of doing this," the man said. "Besides the idea for a city-wide heating grid. We've been hard at work trying to increase the lives of Hunters."

The kids' eyes shined at the sight of weaponry behind a bullet-proof, Hunter-treated, glass room.

"These are our biggest projects outside of the heating grid. Dust Weapons, weapons that are mostly composed of Dust and use a hard-to-use system to make the most of them."

"Why?" A girl from the Faunus side asked.

"Well, it's because, sadly, making them isn't… well, easy. It's hard because of how hard it is to make them but the main idea of them is to make them refined. Giving them a longer time to be used."

Obito looked at the broadsword, katana, gun, lance, scimitar, and other weapons that had these forms before landing on a piece of armor.

Well, he wasn't sure if it was. It was just a block of Dust that was segmented into many colors that were attached to a brace of some sort.

"Ah, that's the first bit of Dust Armor we're trying to create," the scientist looked embarrassed. "Though, considering that it's kind of redundant, not much work has been dedicated to it. That said, its main ability has been changed. This is the Dust Injector Armor. Many of you likely don't know but there are people who just jam Dust into their bodies."

"Wait, what?!" The girl beside Obito choked as the scientist grimaced with a nod.

"It's not safe… but the fact remains that there are results that the world doesn't ignore and those were some of them. So, we here at the SDC want to see about making Dust easier to use those results while lowering the sheer amount of pain and possible side-effects of it."

"What are those side effects?" Obito asked and the scientist looked nervous.

"... okay, so, there are several kinds of side-effects to Dust," the man began slowly. "The thing is, not all of them are so bad. Some people gain a small immunity to certain elements after using them for so long," the group looked shocked. "Yes. If we could isolate only those effects, life would be easier. To isolate means to only have those," he answered before the girl asked, nodding. "... But the downsides are far more numerous."

Obito frowned. "So, for example. If someone injected Fire Dust, would their arm, for example, burn constantly?"

"Well, nothing so severe," the man said. "But it'd likely harm you in ways that we don't fully understand even now… most who live with the side effects, and constant use, don't… they don't last long enough for the effects to become examinable."

Obito's eye narrowed. "Oh."

"W-What's that mean?" The girl, Fiona she'd told him, asked.

"... It means that they're not around anymore," Obito said and the kids blinked while many of those above the 10-year age range choked. "Exactly."

"I-I don't get it."

"It's fine, Fiona."

And, only then, did the area rumble, the group yelling or stumbling as it did.

Obito held onto Fiona and kneeled down with her, the two staying steady as the scientists held onto the glass.

When the rumbles went away, the guards grimaced.

"Stay here! We'll go and check it out!" They said before rushing off. "Head to the exit point!"

The scientist choked. "K-Kids! It's time to leave! We're going back the way we came-"

Obito's eye widened and the only reason the man was still alive and did not have a bullet in his brain was the boy's lunge at him.

Obito dragged his sleeve down and the man fell, the gunshot that crashed into the glass behind him, causing the kids to freeze up.

"Don't stop! Move!" Obito ordered as Fiona rushed behind him, the dust from a broken wall in the same hall dispersing to reveal their potential murderer.

It was a Faunus woman, one with wild straw-colored hair, tan skin, and fierce red eyes that was twisted into a grimace that accentuated her lion-like visage and tail.

She scoffed, wearing a pair of red high-heel boots, a tan dress shirt, black short shorts, a saber on her hip, and a gun in her hand.

"Hmph, didn't expect to see a human boy with some kind of instincts on him," the woman said with a frown before raising her gun again. "Boy, the only reason I haven't shot you-"

"Is because I'm a kid, right?" Obito shot back and her eyebrow rose. "I'm well aware of all the gangs to avoid. Yours is most notable in the better areas, isn't it? There are more than enough people who'd give hints to a human to not let you catch me, especially since I'm male."

'That's quite some information,' the woman thought with a frown and then a smirk. "So, you take yourself for a hero, huh?"

"Not in the least but I doubt we're the reasons you're here," Obito said as the woman grinned further.

"Now, that's not all true."

Something slide through his midsection and out the front of his stomach, alarming Obito to no end.

'What?!' He felt blood build in his throat but found the energy to turn his head to see a horrified-looking rat boy with a knife in his hands. "?!"

"Good boy," the woman said as the kid fell back on his rear, eyes trembling as Obito coughed out some blood. "Now, you don't get to interfere so much, huh?" She said again while pulling back the hammer on her gun.

Fiona then jumped in front of the two humans with her trembling form and tears in her eyes, much to the woman's shock.

"L-L-Leave them a-alone!" The tiny child said as Obito grimaced, hitting his knees, blood spilling from his lips and stomach.

"F-Fiona, get out the way!" The girl jumped as he said this, Obito's sole visible eye locked onto the annoyed-looking woman. "She's not going to care!"

"H-Huh?! B-But you said-"

"Might want to listen to a human for once, girlie," the lion Faunus said as she strutted on over, the end of her barrel placed to the girl's temple. "But that fire of yours does need to be snuffed out-"

Inches from her eye, the woman's eyebrow shot into her brow but it was too late.

The bloody knife found its target and she screamed bloody murder, gun flailing off Fiona's head in an instant and letting off a shot that startled the children and broke the glass containment of the Dust Weapons.

Obito held his hand to his bloody stomach as he stood up, stepping past the shocked Fiona with one hand ruffling her hair.

"Take the others… back," he said slowly, spitting out some blood mid-speech. "Go," Obito commanded as the girl's knees gave out, causing her to sniffle on the floor, liquid spreading out from beneath her legs. 'Dammit,' he had to kill this woman now.

He stumbled into a lunge as their attacker wailed on the floor, blood spilling from her hand.

Obito landed on her stomach and reared a fist back.

A loud crack turned the woman's face to the side before a backhand sent it to the other side.

'Stupid weak body!' He didn't have the strength he needed and was already bleeding out. "Dammit!"

Don't recover!

He aimed for her chin even as his fist bruised.

Don't get back up!

Obito brought his other hand off his wound and kept nailing on her chin despite the woman's slowly lessening wails.

"Fuck!" He threw another hit but it was caught by a ferociously snarling woman. "No-!"

A hand gripped his neck and soon enough he was on his back, coughing up more blood as the bruised face of the bloody-eyed woman slowly vanished under a film of light pink energy.

"You little shit!" The woman cursed his name as she looked down on him, the remains of her eye bleeding out onto Obito's chest as she slammed her fist into his injured stomach.

"KAUGH!"

The lion woman growled further, straddling him and using both her hands to take his life from him.

Obito's eye creaked close. 'Dammit!'

His hand came up and slapped her by her eye, the woman immediately froze, covering, and wailing over it giving him the time to kick her off but barely enough to make a difference.

'C-Cold,' this wasn't good.

He trembled on the floor, trying to get to his feet. The scramble of feet and big hands picking him up caused his body to groan as the scientist lifted him up.

'He's so light!' That wasn't good. "Kids! Run!" The man shouted at them and the group finally found the time to book it, the scientist picking up Fiona along the way.

"U-Ugghhh…" Obito groaned as the man cursed, both he and Fiona in his arms. "S-She's going to give… c-chase," Obito coughed out, blood staining his sweater.

"She… I don't know why she's here," the man said as he looked at the horrified face of the rat boy. "Boy! WHY?!"

The boy flinched as many of the other kids looked at him in confusion.

"S-Shhe…" The kid looked pale and ready to cry.

"Kaugh!" Obito grunted. "N-Now's not the time!" He said as they gaped at him. "Focus on running!"

There was an explosion behind them and the group came to a stumbling halt as they turned their heads to see another woman there.

Her head raised and it turned to look at them.

Obito's eye locked onto her.

'Silver hair… fuck me, this is the leader of the Burst Brights,' he cursed mentally as her eyes narrowed.

As noted before, her hair was silver and in a long braid that came down to her waist. Her skin was white and her eyes pink as she turned to them. Wearing a black trenchcoat, black fingerless gloves, and bright white boots, he could barely see her pink joggers beneath it all.

"Hmm… that's odd, B should have-" The woman began to say before hurried, stumbling, steps reached the hall.

"...?! B-Boss?" Came the voice of the lion Faunus from before and the woman turned, gawked at the Faunus's injuries.

"The fuck happened to you?!" The woman shrieked in disbelief as her head, and expression, turned to the group of runaways, anger etching itself onto her face.

Her eyes locked onto the glaring Obito.

Obito pushed and kicked the scientist away with Fiona.

A flash of white slammed into the raised knife from earlier, Obito's hands holding the weapon up to stop the woman's attacks from hitting him.

'Aura?!' That was bad!

The wave of white slowly dissipated into sparks, allowing his clothes to settle and his vision to clear so he could see the shocked expression on the women's faces.

He hit his knees moments later, throat full of blood that he spat out before growling at the steps heading towards him.

A boot hooked under his chin before he was sent flying by a casual kick that sent his body into the wall by the scientist.

"No man, adult or not, lays a single fucking hand on my members, you little shit," the woman hissed as she removed a small machete from her lower back. "No mercy."

She was in front of him before Obito could even fall from the wall.

'No time!' His left eye throbbed.

The woman's eyes widened as he blocked her slash with that long knife again.

'How?!' She cursed before kicking him to the side, the boy rolling down the hall, back towards the casing with the Dust Items.

She growled and stalked after him as her subordinate groaned with a hiss, gaining her concern.

"Keep an eye on them," the woman said softly before her eyes hardened as she refocused on Obito. "This one won't take long."

Obito stood up on shaky feet. 'No time to hold back,' he thought as one hand held onto his knife while the other unraveled his bandages.

When the woman saw the mark, she stopped for but a moment. A brief amount of pity welled within her being before she stamped it down.

'No time for pity, boy, maybe you'll be a woman in your next life,' she thought as she held her machete at the ready. 'There's nothing-'

Then his scarred eye opened, bright red locking onto her as three comma-like marks swirled within.

"What?!" She came to a stop. "Aura?"

"H-Hah, I wish," Obito said, his other eye closed as his Sharingan burned bright. "But you won't be able to after this," he told her as the woman growled.

This second life had come with a few more unfortunate surprises for the former shinobi.

Aura, the power of the soul to be wielded, was the only way to increase one's abilities internally and he had none. His Sharingan, at current, was a by-product of his father's greatest mistreatment of him and an instinctual awakening of a Semblance in a misfired way.

At present, he could not 'activate' his Sharingan but the one in his left eye was always on, leaving him to cover it, always.

But that wasn't in the cards for now.

'I can already feel the strain,' without a spiritual source for the power, it took it out of his body, and with a malnourished form… he wasn't exactly brimming with stamina. 'A minute,' he felt his visual acuity increase 100-fold.

Every inch of her Aura, her natural movement, and her eyes was clear to him.

Obito breathed in and out slowly before holding his weapon up towards her.

The woman lunged and found a boy at her side, dodging, before swinging his weapon towards her eyes?!

She tucked into a roll before swinging back, unleashing a wave of white that carved up the floor and wall, Obito dodging to the side.

He held up a solid stance once again as she went after him once more, machete coming up in slash in merely tilted to the side of and stabbed towards her mouth, causing the woman to grab his arm.

Her attempt to twist it was interrupted by a hand shooting into her mouth, causing her to gag before he swiped his knife over her face, rolling back.

The woman spat out his blood, holding her throat. 'That son of a bitch!' How putrid of a male did he have to be to toss his blood down her throat?! "THAT'S IT!" She roared at him and Obito's eyes widened as pressure formed around his being.

His body groaned at the feeling. 'What is this?! Some kind of spiritual pressure?!' Was this another thing Aura-users could do? 'My body's not holding up!' Between his Sharingan and this pressure, it was deteriorating rather quickly!

The woman's eyes narrowed as she walked over to him and the pressure increased. "... Tsk," she raised her weapon, looking down on him like she was his executioner. "Die."

It dropped and Obito watched it in slow motion, arms trembling as they failed to rise.

Dammit-

A chain coiled around the woman's arm and stopped the machete short, inches away from his head.

The group, at large, balked as a woman held the leader of the Burst Brights' arm at bay.

"What?!"

"That's enough," came a Faunus behind a mask as she hissed. "He's already dead on his feet! Why are you still doing this?!"

"C," the woman hissed as Sienna frowned. "You know how we do things."

"Last I checked, we also have a job to do, A. We don't have the time!"

The woman, A, huffed before her eyes went back to Obito whose own normal eye had reopened, his Sharingan hidden.

He didn't stop staring her down and the woman looked like she might continue her former action before sighing.

"Fine. Get B to meds. We have what we're here for," A said as she sheathed her machete before looking at the Dust Weapons. "Hmph," she walked towards the glasses as the scientist choked. "I'd suggest you don't do a damn thing," the woman said as she looked back at him fiercely, the man flinching as her eyes glowed. "..."

She went to the covered items before breaking the hole in it open more before stepping in to grab as much stuff as she could.

Coming back out, she had a sack over her shoulder and walked out towards B being helped by C.

'This whole thing is a-' Obito began to think, relaxing a bit while eying 'A' as she passed by.

… As he'd hoped she would have but his life was a big 'fuck you' at times as she picked him up around the waist and kept going.

"W-What?!" He couldn't fight back, wound too severe. "D-Dammit…"

His vision went black and Obito fell unconscious.

"W-What are you doing?" C asked in horror as B growled.

"Kill him now!" The Faunus said before hissing, more weight on C's shoulder. "H-He's too dangerous!"

"He is, isn't he?" Their leader said as the two looked confused. "And that's why we're taking him. Because he needs to be contained."

C choked while B grimaced.

The three vanished through A's hole, leaving the shocked group of kids to look on in horror as the scientist and Fiona went pale.

~NRK~

"... mn… wh...?!"

"St… com…!"

"Tsk!"

Obito's eye creaked open as he hissed on a cot.

'W-What?' He grimaced as he held his head, sitting up-

Chains jingled.

What?

His eye snapped wide open, looking down at his body to see his top gone and his wounds tended to but his wrists, ankles, and neck were locked to the ground around his medical bed?!

Obito looked at his handcuffed hands in horror.

"So, you're awake," came a voice from his side, from another man in a similar situation as he was but in a separate cage. "How's life, kid?"

"..." Obito was alarmed to no end. "W-What the hell is this?!"

"Heh, well, you'll find yourself 'happy' to be captured by the Burst Blight. The all-women gang near the better sectors," the man said.

Obito then remembered the last seconds of his previous consciousness. "Fuck…"

"Maybe, if you're lucky."

"What?"

Then the tent they were in had its front flaps opened by a familiar head of silver hair. "Oh, hmph, more sturdy than you look, huh?" A said as she came to stand before Obito's cage with a set of keys.

She undid his cage's locks before Obito frowned as she stood before him.

"You've caused me quite some trouble for a malnourished kid with no Aura. Talk about impressive," she said as she crouched down to his seated level. "And we're going to make sure you never get that chance, yeah?" A said before grabbing his chains and wrangling him harshly, Obito hissing as his wounds throbbed. "Exactly. You did things you weren't supposed to."

"And your B member killing someone was in your plan-" She wrangled him once more, a hiss on her lips. "Classy."

The woman looked ready to shake him again before huffing. She undid his chains connection to the floor before dragging him by the clasp on his neck out of the tent.

"Good luck, boyo, you'll need it," the man still there said as Obito burst into the nighttime air.

He groaned at the coolness on his wounds, A not caring for his discomfort in the least.

'Bitch,' he still looked around discreetly.

Women of all sorts were moving to and fro, some chatting, others sparring, a few teaching a 'class' of young women in a corner, and so on. This area seemed to be overrun by them and occupied from nearby stores and apartments to a small set of parks and bus stops.

'A colony, huh?' A jangled his chains some more and his narrowed eye locked onto her looking-back set. "..."

"You're one of those types, huh?" She said and he didn't respond. "That's fine, talking 'bout my pride is important to someone like you.

"This entire set-up is mine. My gang's, my gal's, and my work. You'll find not a hint of a man is around save for those in the cages. You lucked out, again, by being a kid and having a connection to one of my members. Were that not the case, your ass would be stuck here or dead."

Obito didn't disagree.

That 'C' teen, he could tell by her body size, had saved his life by the inches-mark.

"..."

"... As much as it pains me to admit it, you're something impressive, especially for your size and body. Handling B like that wasn't expected and you were injured? Man, you'd have been quite the threat if you had Aura, as odd as that eye of yours is," A said with a chuckle. "So, we'll be making sure that never happens again.

His eyebrow narrowed as she brought him past a series of stalls and through an alleyway, all the while, women snorted, laughed, sneered, or… leered in worrying fashion.

'Is this some sort of tribe? What the hell is wrong with them?!' This wasn't good.

Some of them seemed to have no hesitation with leering at a teenager and they were fully-grown women. Sure, in their twenties most likely, but still adults.

He grimaced as he was pulled into a small shack where he found two familiar people within and a trio of more-mature women sitting by them.

The three were dressed similarly, bearing white cloaks over a dress shirt, thick slacks, and boots. They seemed to have some responsibility with this 'binding' that A wanted to put on him.

We'd see, yeah?

One of them raised their hand and Obito's eye widened as force pressed down on him.

"You'd do good to watch those thoughts, young man," that one said, a woman with black skin, white eyes, a pair of claws on her hands, and short, wavy, brown hair. "You won't be getting any chances to escape without marks," she said with a frown. '... Did Atella not say he buckled with ease before?'

Wait, he was injured, no? So, was that saying he was…

Her eyes narrowed and Obito hit the floor, a crater around his knees as he fought against that pressure but this felt different.

Like a force being applied by the first woman before him. His eye narrowed at her as he brought one leg up and stomped on the floor, forcing his body up against her attack.

Her eyes widened before they narrowed as she released him, the boy's form riddled with sweat that chilled his skin in the cool air. "... He must be dealt with," she said to her similar-clothed comrades who nodded.

The middle one, a big, hulking, woman with black hair that fell past her chest, looked down at him with an apathetic stare, her fair skin and brown eyes robotic to Obito's vision.

'You're just brimming with anger, huh?' Obito thought as he stood on shaky legs with quick gasps. 'This isn't good,' his eye went to the first woman whose eyes narrowed. 'Hah.'

She frowned, wearing a thinking expression.

'Information found. She can't read thoughts but she can assume their base nature and contemplate on them,' good to know.

"Hmph, bring him here," the middle one said as Obito was dragged over. "... Hmph, a powerful mind pained by a more pathetic body," she tried to drag a response out of the teen.

He didn't budge, eye as stoic as her own were. 'Troublesome,' if he wasn't responding hotly, that'd be difficult.

Obito, meanwhile, felt an odd heat rise ahead of him. '... her Aura?' Had she been using her Semblance, her unique ability? 'They have conditions,' he realized.

This one needed him to react to her call, in a certain way he guessed.

"... The boy is dangerous," the first one said with a deep frown as A raised a brow. "He's… I can't tell what exactly he's thinking."

Obito didn't react as he looked at her stoically, the woman grimacing at his 'response'.

'Obviously.'

The third one of these 'Sealers', he supposed was fitting, was short, likely shorter than Sienna was Obito to see her here.

Having wavy light blonde hair, white skin, and blue eyes, she looked at him with more composure than he expected.

"The young man is waiting, you two," she said with a smile that the other two nodded at.

"So, is there going to be a problem?" A asked as she held Obito's chain up. "Something a little shaking can't solve?"

"Likely not," the first one said. "We'll do this the normal way, then," she added before A nodded.

Obito barely hit his knees as she kicked at the back of them, the boy grimacing as he looked at the annoyed-looking A.

She brought him down with one more kick but didn't look nearly as satisfied about it.

Obito kept his head down, curious about something. 'Kill yourself,' he thought and the woman before him, the first one when he looked up, simply frowned like before. '...' So she might need to see his face and emotions?

Fascinating.

The woman grimaced as she held her hand over his head. "At the ready," she said to her comrades who nodded.

B and C fidgeted while A pulled her machete out of its holster.

"It's with immortality that I'm bestowing onto you and shouldering the 'burden' that's being given. This fate isn't small nor is it to be taken for granted," the woman declared as Obito's eyes widened.

'She's awakening my Aura?!' That was likely another way of doing this, he supposed? 'So, before that, she could do it without me having it but now needs it, huh?'

The first woman frowned as she shot her Aura into his body… with a bigger frown.

Obito blinked at the feeling of sharp pains filling his body, the teen's eye closing in pain as the woman shivered before she removed her hand in disbelief, gasping for air that couldn't come fast enough.

The others were surprised as she grimaced, looking at the pained boy before her.

"... I-I… I can't unlock it," she said in horror, shame, and outright embarrassment. "His Aura is too large and yet it's twisted… it tried to activate before and yet it was halted too sharply, a mental wedge to not release it, caused it to distort inside his body."

The group looked surprised, Obito included before he grimaced as he kept his face down.

'That day, huh?' If he was right… he knew why.

"So, it couldn't be activated anyway?" A asked in surprise. "Well… that's convenient."

"I… don't know," the woman said before grimacing as she grabbed his chin and lifted his face, other hand coming around to remove his bindings. "...!" She was alarmed at his marks along with the other two. "I-I see, you handled this?"

"No, he had it before."

"..." The woman didn't look well.

Oh, look, a conscious? Talk about being a hypocrite.

She frowned at his flat stare, looking annoyed and yet the slightest bit of shame filled her before she held her hand over the scarred side of his face.

"... It's all bundled up, it can't release well and it seems more and more like it'll be impossible to unfurl it," she said as she released him, C coming over to rebound his eye. "... Right, you have a connection with him, right?"

Obito was surprised by that. 'Wait, she had said something, right?' So, how did this C woman know him?

And then he focused on her head and tail.

His eyebrows shot into his hairline as it clicked but he said nothing even as 'C' grimaced beneath her breath.

"Dammit," she finished off tying his cloth back on. "So, we're done, right?" Her voice was different, practice?

"Hmph, it was kind of sad to be brought here for nothing," the wavy-haired woman said with a sigh before her eyes landed on Obito once more, full of something he didn't like. "But you're sure he can't stay the night?"

"Uh, yeah, no," A snorted at C's words. "Come on, we're going," she said harshly, dragging him in his chains.

She raised her hand and A deposited the keys into it. "Don't let him go too close to here. You can find another top in that pile of stuff."

C nodded before dragging Obito out without a thought.

As they walked back out, the women about looked at him as she brought him into a store.

"Haa, you got anything in his size?" C asked another Faunus girl behind the counter.

The girl frowned at his race before blushing a bit at his body, Obito's eyebrow ticking as C coughed.

"O-Oh, right!" The goat girl, Obito thinks from the horns, scrambled for something under the counter. "H-Here," she said as she came around the counter.

She stepped in close to him and Obito's eyebrow twitched some more as she touched his back around from his front, testing her fingers around his neck with intent and ideas he wanted no part of.

"So, he's s-staying, right?" The girl asked with some kind of rising excitement that C sighed at. "No?" Now she looked disappointed. "I could have used his body a lot."

"No. Now, clothes," C said.

In the back near a set of dressing rooms, the tiger teen quickly undid his chains with a hiss.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why are you here?" Sienna Khan whispered as Obito rubbed his wrists and neck. "Dammit. Why did the old man decide now was the time to be the world's biggest asshole and not wait?!"

"Hmph, does he need a reason?" Obito asked and Sienna grimaced. "..." He took the clothing he'd been 'given' and put it on.

A simple replacement long-sleeve, similar black color, too. Well, they were fashionable at least.

There was a brown cloak, too. Guess they didn't want his face coming out of their hideout.

"I'd rather know what the hell is going on. This whole thing is a fucking mess, Sienna."

"It is," his older sibling facepalmed. "I went, ya know? I thought I helped out that rat kid but I didn't think A had already…" She grimaced. "Fucking hell."

"So, let me guess, this all happened because they knew the security was usually low and they could attack, right?"

Sienna winced. "... Was it that obvious?"

"It is to anyone who has enough hints. Too bad Mr. Moreno didn't seem to take the hint."

"I know, I know," Sienna grimaced before sighing. "It's… whatever, it's over. Come on."

Obito nodded as she put back on his neck chains and handcuffs.

She looked uncomfortable and he just shrugged.

Leaving, Sienna informed the girl at the front that the chains were back there, they were out of the 'store' and onto the neighborhood.

Sienna replaced her mask as they walked. "... You need to be more careful when you come around here. I mean it."

"You mean that B woman, right?" Obito whispered back and she grunted.

"B's not going to just let this go… I know it," Sienna sighed. "This is going to cause an entire issue."

Well, Obito didn't want any part in it. "... Wait, where is Moreno?" He asked Sienna who stopped, blinked, and looked at him in confusion. "You didn't go home, right?"

"I… didn't," Sienna said with a tightening fist. "The thing is, from what I knew, they were waiting on the kids to bring back stuff."

"Right, the kids who might be going home right now… or were kept back at the SDC factory because it was considered dangerous to go outside and they'd call him, right?"

"..."

~NRK~

They ran back home, the two of them skidding to a stop before paling at the sight of their home's door.

Busted in.

"Sienna. Tell me! What other gang was in on this?" Obito asked and she racked her brain. "The man had a purple diamond on his shoulder?"

"What?" She looked at him, horrified. "W-Why would the Diamonds… Oh no," Sienna looked ready to bolt.

"Where, Sienna? We need to go!"

She grimaced. "They're in the alleyway farther behind the house! They shouldn't-!"

"Sienna?! Oh, gods, Sienna!" Came a woman from the house across the street, her literally black hands rubbing against one another as she looked paler than a ghost.

"Ms. Cofi?"

"They took your father and brother!"

The two's eyes widened.

~NRK~

Moreno held his Marrone close to his chest as he, and a lot of the other parents in on the scam, sat in front of a man.

"So, as things turned out, shit got crazy," the man in front of them said as he paced back and forth. "And the kids who were supposed to come back are being held up after the shit the Burst Brights caused," he shook his head with a sigh, a diamond tattoo on his shoulder. "So, we'll be holdin' you folks until they get here, yeah?"

The humans and Faunus looked horrified as they held their other kids in their arms.

Moreno felt his anger well but hid it as best he could.

The guy sighed as he stood in front of them at his full height.

A man of six feet with short brown hair, slightly tan skin, and black eyes, he dressed like a good amount of his goods in a brown thick-looking jacket, black cargo pants, and worker's boots. Unlike his folk, though, he was without a gas mask and visors that the others wore.

On his hip were a handgun and a slightly-chipped katana that rattled in their loose holsters as he crossed his arms.

A TV next to the gathered group played them news on what was happening.

"Huh, one of your male kids got snatched! Those bitches are probably going to bleed him dry!" The man laughed a bit before pointing his gun at the group. "Whose kid is that?! Huh?! Tell me so I can look at your faces!"

The humans looked startled while the Faunus didn't look them in the eyes.

Moreno felt some sick satisfaction come when the man held his gun to one of the human fathers' heads.

"I'll ask again or someone's getting a bullet-"

"H-He's my big brother!" Marrone declared he fought out of his horrified father's midst. "S-Sir."

"Huh?" The man looked shocked like most of the people there save for the shaking Marrone. "... huh? Kid, you ain't makin' sense. Damn near most of the people here know your pops'... hate for us," the guy said with a hand on his chin.

"H-He's not from the same mom."

"... I see, I see," the man said before blinking at a thought. "Hmm? Actually, there's something interestin' bout that," the guy said with a widening grin as the boy flinched. "Now, now, I ain't got beef wit' ya. At least one of you wasn't a pussy… metaphorically," the guy joked as his men laughed.

Moreno's horrified shock turned to anger but he stamped it down, pulling his son back towards his chest before grimacing as the man lazily waved his gun at him.

"Yo, old man. Ya know a woman by the name of Sara?" He asked.

Moreno froze along with a few of the Faunus around. "W-What?"

"So, ya do!" The guy chuckled. "Ya see, interestin' thing bout that. Hm, hm, hm! She's my old lady, ya know?" Moreno's eyes widened. "Yep. Why would a human love an old animal bastard like you? Ya think she was there to play family but she was there, from the very beginnin', to grab your shit and leave."

Moreno's eyes widened further as Marrone blinked, eyes wide.

"H-Huh?" He uttered as the guy laughed.

"Don't ya find it odd me and him have the same black eyes?!" The Faunus's fist clenched and shook. "Yep! All for a little love and care, I bet ya didn't find that fun, huh?!"

Moreno's temper boiled over. "You son of a bitch!?"

A gunshot rang out and Moreno frown as pain blossomed in his bicep.

"A-AHHHH!"

"Now now, that ain't polite. My old lady was a real champ. Taking dicks like an ol' prosty on the edge of a sidewalk," the guy sighed. "She got it while her looks held up. I think she had a good run."

Moreno grimaced more as he held his bleeding shoulder, Marrone looking horrified.

"D-Dad?!"

"Your pops is just living with consequences, kid," the human said with a chuckle. "Man, ya should have just taken it like ya always do. In stride with pride," he joked as his men chuckled. "Ya did it before, ya do now, and you'll do it in the future no matter what some dumbfuck general thinks. We've got this place handled to the point he couldn't do shit!"

"You're right," came a voice from around the area, causing the gangsters to freeze. "You do. All of you do. The gangs, the violence. Someone needs to weed your kind out," the voice echoed.

"Who the fuck is that?!" The man yelled as he and his men looked around the perimeter.

Several clacks came from down the street.

"Go and get that fuck! All of you!" The man ordered as his subordinates nodded.

They rushed down the way, the group separating to move about the corners and alleyways.

"The fuck is-"

"Ah-!" There was a scream.

Gunfire ensued but the longer it went on, the more silence became apparent.

"W-What are you-!" The last lone gun came to a halt moments later, leaving the streets quiet as the leader and a few other subordinates looked at the corner in confusion.

Minutes passed as more clacking took place. Like numerous steps down the street that continued in a rhythm.

"What the fuck are they doing?!" The man growled as he waited along with the rest of his men. "Take aim and light their asses up!" He ordered and they did… before all falling to gunfire from within one of the very buildings they were situated in. "What?!"

"Hmph," that voice returned. "Unless you want to die like the rest of your men, cut the shit and fuck off," the voice said.

The man growled as he held his gun up. "Come out here, you fuck!"

His hearing piqued and the gang leader took aim at a window before letting loose.

A shadow passed by in his gunfire's flashes of light.

"Someone's a fucking hero, huh?!" The man declared as he walked forward before grasping his walkie-talkie. "Get in here!"

-On it-

The gang leader grabbed one of the Faunus women who screamed, Ms. Dubal. "Shut it, bitch! I don't need your fucking squeaking right now!" The man cursed as he held his gun to her head. "You get one fucking chance before I blow their freaking brains out!"

There was some disturbance in a nearby alleyway before a familiar tiger girl with a mask appeared.

"... She hates me THAT MUCH, huh?" The guy said as he cursed, roughly shoving the rat woman back before raising her gun. "Fuck her-"

A gunshot rang out and the man's eyes widened at his twitching, empty, hand.

"The fuck!?"

There was the click of something reloading. "Try again," that voice returned as Sienna stalked forward. "Move another hand and I'm taking it along with your life."

The man looked up at the barrel of a sniper rifle raised at his face.

What the hell was going on?! Where had these two come from?!

Then there was the spark of his walkie-talkie and he grinned.

"... C! Move!"

Sienna froze before jumping out of the way of a crashing comet that crushed the ground of the street they were on.

"Hmph!" A figure within the impact's dust cloud grunted as something sliced through the smoke with a scream that could only come from a sharp blade. "How'd she dodge me?"

When the dust cleared, they all could see a large man standing there with his hands cupping his chin.

He was easily seven-feet tall, built like a brick house, and not from Atlas.

Obito's eyes narrowed at the man's numerous robes that covered his form, his headdress another wrapping around the crown of his head and coming down to cover the back of his wild black hair.

His skin was caramel-colored and his eyes a contemplative brown as he removed his long saber from the floor.

The more of it unsheathed, the more Obito's eyebrows furrowed.

'This man's a bigger threat,' that wasn't good. 'And he clearly has Aura and knows how to wield that sword.'

He was like that A woman. Despite her gangster background, she clearly knew how to fight with her weapon and her Aura.

And this man seemed even more impressive by a wide margin.

So, that was bad.

"Hmph," the man held his weapon aloft, the ease he did so with one arm was concerning to Sienna. "Now, who is causing my little contractor trouble?" He asked as he looked at Sienna who unfurled a chain on her forearm. "So, it's you-"

Obito took the shot without hesitation, the man's talking to his benefit… he was sure, at least.

The sound of a bullet being cleaved told him everything he needed to know.

Obito ran over the bodies of the gangster snipers, his gun around his body as a bright brown light erupted into the windows.

Sienna choked as one stroke from the man seemed to destroy the entire front of that floor.

'Obito?!' She cursed as she growled at the man whose eyes were on the building still.

Then a shot from down the street caused him to turn and slice through a bullet, Obito's form on the floor down the way.

"Tsk," he kissed his teeth as he got up, the sniper rifle pulled around his shoulder to rest it on his back.

"... That's a fucking kid!" The gangster boss said in disbelief as he moved towards his gun only for the sharp end of a chain whip to slice it in half. "Gah! Bitch!" He cursed as Sienna spun her chain.

'Obito can't fight these guys,' she thought with a frown. 'I have to deal with them first-'

"Hmph," the actual threatening man smirked before rushing the sniper. "Let's handle you, first, yes?!"

Sienna cursed. "No!"

Obito reached into his hood and unfurled his wrappings as the man devoured meters in seconds, appearing in front of him with his sword raised.

A red eye throbbed and so too did the swordsman's body.

"H-Huh?!" The sniper was raised at his face.

He was sent flying as it fired, form tumbling down the street before recovering into a roll that allowed him to block Obito's follow-up shot with his weapon.

"Heh, not bad," the man said as he lifted his head to reveal the blood coming down from his forehead. "Your shots are rather incredible… but what's more interesting is that ability you have despite not having Aura."

Obito frowned as he reloaded. 'This is bad. I have only one of those cartridges yet…' but there was that thing he took.

He didn't have Aura, though.

He grimaced as that man grinned wider before wounding up his swing.

"Let's see that face, shall we?!"

He swung out with his sword and Obito crossed his arms in front of his face as harsh winds tore past him. Obito hissed before allowing that losing battle to end while keeping his cloak on.

When the winds died down, his identity was revealed to the captives.

"Bro?!" Marrone declared as the gang leader balked.

"How the hell did he survive?!" The man said before his eyes widened. "Wait… you're that kid from the bus Iro spoke of?!" The man growled as Obito flipped him off. "I'll murder you, you piece of shit!"

Moreno simply gaped as Sienna sighed.

"W-What are you doing here?!" Her father asked.

"Saving your life," Obito sighed before facing the better Aura-user as Moreno choked. "But that'll be harder than ever," he said as the man before him grinned.

"Now bad, you've got lots of character in you," the man said as Obito hefted his sniper rifle. "And feisty. Man, I wish we had more guys like you… ya know? I got a proposition for ya," the guy said as Sienna, the Diamond boss, and even the hostages were shocked. "Impress me, show me your resolve and I'll make a proposition that you can alter or deny. Once it's passed, if we meet again afterward, I'll make sure to kill you without a moment's hesitation."

A possibility? Obito was happy to see one. "Very well," he said as lowered his weapon. "Bring it."

The wind picked up, the chill air causing their breaths to fog up.

Then a gunshot rang out and Obito tilted his head to the side, the Diamond gang boss growling at him only for his contractor to look at him with narrowed eyes. "T-The fuck are you looking at, Keler?! I hired you!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Victor, don't test me," Victor froze as Keler sighed, turning back to Obito with an apologetic smile.

"Apologies."

"No, please continue," Obito said as his wounds ached. 'Any more time is worthy time.'

"Ah but I can see what you mean in your eyes," Keler grinned as he crouched. "No time for you!"

His lunge couldn't be considered a rush but more of a powerful leap that closed the distance between them with such ease, Obito's rifle hadn't fired as he lifted it.

Instead, he swerved around the high-level fighter, barrel trailing along the man's moving torso.

He clicked the trigger but Keler was already able to turn in the air, dodging the shot.

Obito rolled to a stop before taking aim once more and letting off two shots.

'7 left.'

---

Sienna choked Victor out as the man flailed about before pointing his shaky gun at her head.

She let go before rolling away from the shot and swipe of his rusty katana.

"You Bright Bitches are always so fucking nosy!" The man let off shot after shot, Sienna dodging back from his projectiles.

'He's an idiot,' she grinned as she spun her chain before sending it shooting past Victor's side, his Aura lessening the damage but only by so much as she pulled her weapon back before tossing it again.

Victor seemed to barely know how his weapon worked as he stuck it into one of her chain links' holes before rushing her with his gun only.

Each shot he fired, she dodged as best she could. 'How'd Atella do this so easily?!' She'd even seen this during the Vytal Festival!

Kids almost her age could freaking block bullets with ease and it was damning to think that an Academy student could fight her gang's greater members if needed.

'I need to get stronger,' Sienna realized with a determined frown as she and Victor were right in front of one another. 'To make things simpler!'

She cracked her fist against his cheek.

'Make life easier for everyone!'

Sienna's other fist smacked against his cheek.

'Then maybe… Dad'll be normal,' another. 'Marrone can talk with Obito openly,' another. 'And we can all be a family again! So, I can't! I won't!'

She grabbed the gang boss's collar before bringing him up and around and down into the ground.

"I won't lose to some bitch like you!" She vocalized to the groaning man before tying him up in her weapon.

Her head snapped to the side where Obito was barely holding on against that man who was clearly above her in skills and power.

---

Obito cursed as he bent back before hissing into a flip that barely dodged Keler's follow-up sweep, eye bleeding profusely as he forced it to stay open.

'My body's giving up on me,' he knew it long before he'd even fought.

He'd sustained too many injuries, too much damage, too much effort all in one day. All that fighting had barely allowed his body to rest but now he was pushing his body's strain on two fronts and he was already failing.

Obito gasped as he landed into a crumpled heap, Keler sighing.

"It's kind of sad, honestly. You definitely have a fire in you that needs stoking. You're clearly willing to kill me," the man grinned before cupping his chin. "... Ah, I know what to do," he smiled. "I'll make you hate me for the years to come!"

Obito blinked before he let off his last bit of ammo at his opponent who blocked it with a widening grin.

He dropped his weapon before reaching into his cloak to reveal that Dust Brace from the exhibition that the Burst Brights had stolen, Keler looking excited.

"And what's this, my little friend?" He asked, smiling widely as Obito frowned.

"Something experimental that I stole," he explained as he dropped his cloak, its usefulness long-since expended. "... I'm going to use everything to bring you down," Obito declared as he slipped the item onto his bicep before slamming the Dust down-

Pain.

His body spasmed with elements that didn't belong, mouth spewing blood as Sienna's shout reached them.

"NO!" She rushed them and Obito choked on his breath before his blood felt like it was burning, frozen, electrified, and too sharp all at once.

He hit his knees as she attacked Keler, the man blocking her fist with ease before chuckling as she spun into a backhand he also blocked, standing between him and Obito.

"Come now, you may have power but you're clearly not better than the boy over there," the man shrugged at her shock. "He's more capable of killing than you are. Then again, a boy should."

Her anger burned as she clenched her empty hands before her form glowed bright red, flashing for a moment before it settled and Sienna blinked before information settled into her mind.

She looked down at her hands as Keler hummed with excitement.

"Oh, a Semblance, ay?" He asked and she gasped at him. "Oh, please, it's obvious from the increase your Aura just got. Yours is a decent amount, too. Not bad… so, how about I give you the same stipulations I gave him?"

Sienna flinched before she turned and ran towards Obito, sliding by his form and lifting him up into her arms.

"D-Dammit, Obito!" She called out to him, her voice back to normal. "C-Come on! Come on!" Sienna shook the boy whose eyes were half-lidded, blood spilling from his lip. "Obito!"

---

"Obito!"

He could hear something… but it was too hard to listen.

Over the sound of thunder, the feeling of gravity threatening to crush his chest, water garbling in his ears, fire blocking his vision, his body's rigid stone-like feeling, and the feeling of being captured by vines and the like.

Obito sank deeper despite his spirit not moving. 'So, this is it, huh?'

What kind of life had he lived up to this point? He feels like it was rough, it was hard, but he'd made actual connections that he'd protected down to the end.

He'd taught, he'd learned alongside, he'd lived with Sienna and Marrone… right, those two names.

'...' His chest felt warm as his eyes closed. 'This is fine… Keler won't kill her. He's too absorbed by the idea of battle itself. Sienna can't give him that,' and neither could he.

His body too bruised, his age too young, his 'Aura' contorted in ways that made it impossible to access. No energy to move his form.

Lightning sparked past his head as his eyes closed-

Water… something warm landed on his cheek. That was confusing.

Why? Warm water when he was dying? That didn't…

"O-Obito?!"

'Sienna… Sienna?!' His eyes widened as his mind returned.

Sienna was crying over his useless corpse… son of a bitch! What kind of bastard was he?!

He fought to clench his fingers and curl his arms.

Obito was lacking power… power to define the way his life would actually play out. Power to ensure that things got better for those two if nothing else!

Red fire burned around him as purple gravity forced itself onto his body and green vines locked over his limbs… He growled as his body trembled.

Dust was energy. He needed energy. Dust was power. He needed power.

His Sharingan blazed as his form pushed against the interconnecting energies. A side-effect to keep him down?

FUCK THAT.

"This isn't your body!" He found the ground beneath his feet as vines snapped. "This isn't your life!" He wrought his arm from more as the fire riddled his body, lightning sparked his mind, and water filled his limbs.

Earth locked around his feet before he stepped out of them.

He forced that water out of his lungs, dousing the flames.

Obito forced that electricity to enhance his senses as the vines became his limbs.

Obito Uchiha's Sharingan burned bright as all the elements curled into his core.

---

Sienna laid the boy's body down as she slammed her fist into the ground by his head, boot-covered feet carrying themselves over to her before a shadow cast over her downed form.

Her tail bristled as she looked at him, mask coming off her face with a rough drag of her hand so Keler could see vicious ambers.

"Hm, hm, he died, that's all-"

She swung out at him but he simply stepped back.

She did it again and again as he dodged. Dammit! Hit him!

If she was faster! If she was stronger! If she'd simply been smarter to fuck the consequences and convince her father to not do this instead of pleading to her leader.

She swung out and she knew she'd miss by such a small distance she'd need bigger limbs, ones that could reach out.

She breathed out harshly and amber eyes widened as her red aura bound off her arm toward a shocked Keler's face.

The smack had been shocking but satisfying as she watched the man hit the floor like he'd been blown out of a cannon.

"... Haa… haaa…" Her lungs needed air, the organs burning as she felt her heart beat rapidly but her mouth set in a grin. 'There… I-I hit him, for you.'

"... Hahahahaha," she growled as the man stood up from the blow, a fierce bruise on his cheek that he grinned at. "Yes, you both are interesting, aren't you?" Keler walked closer, hand on his blade. "So, you've impressed me! I'll simply be taking a little souvenir," he declared, standing by her struggling form.

A sharp pressure coiled over her body and she trembled as he looked down.

Then a streaking white slice went towards her face-

There was a force that dragged her body back as something squelched like meat being cut. Her body flew back and she bounced a bit as she laid flat on the floor, body heavier than she remembered.

Then something reached her tiger ears… breathing.

In front of her-?!

Amber eyes widened as she looked to see… a heaving black sweater-covered back.

Obito grinned nervously as he held the stump for an arm he'd had, his Dust Brace falling to the floor, Dust crystal gone.

"Y-You really don't know how to make me not worry," he said with a bloody grin as Keler blinked thrice before laughing loudly and proudly.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" He wiped a tear from his eyes. "You magnificent little bastards! I was sure you died but, here you are, awake, bleeding, alive! Why I think this is a good note to leave on!" The man said with an amused smirk as Obito chuckled, eyes glinting with something that caused his excitement to rise once again. "Yes? You have something to say, yes?"

Obito's two black eyes closed as he grinned, bleeding stump of an arm raised to the side.

"A bit."

Black energy formed on the stump, wind expelling from the area before a black arm quickly formed onto the severed limb.

When it formed fully, the energy settled as a clawed hand flexed experimentally, shocking every conscious person there.

"Kaugh," he spat out more blood but Obito smirked regardless. "That's an arm, at least," he said before breathing in deeply.

His core thrummed as he raised his right hand towards Victor's form.

The chipped, rusty, katana on the man's hip trembled before shooting out toward his awaiting palm.

Looking at it, Obito's eyes snapped open, Sharingan blazing brightly.

The blade began to shift as black energy formed over it, purple and white energy forming over it as Obito smirked.

A casual flourish to his side was all he needed.

The floor street by him and Sienna exploded into a smooth curve that Sienna jumped at.

"The hell?!" She was on her shaky feet in seconds as she looked at Obito and then the street. "Did you do that?"

"Only a bit," Obito whispered before holding the weapon low and at his side with both arms as he widened his stance. "... Sienna," she perked up. "Sorry about the extra work."

She was confused before the area around her feet exploded as Obito vanished into a lunge that sparked with electricity.

Keler's grin was unmatched as his hand found his weapon before he lunged to meet the boy's own.

They met in the middle.

A flash of purple blinded those in the area for a mere second before their vision returned to find Obito crashing into the wall of a building while Keler held a steady stance, the man's grin untouched as he turned to face the now-unconscious boy.

His blade, once long and grand, was but a stump as the blade finally clanked against the ground some meters away.

The man looked at his weapon with a smile before dropping it entirely and simply walking away.

Sienna gaped as he did, watching him all the way.

"When he awakes, tell him this. When I return, it'll be when he's finally attained his prime," was all Keler said before walking off into the rising sun. "Nothing less. He's, what? 15? 14? Give it 16 good years. This will certainly be a grand fight."

Sienna grimaced at that before tiny steps rushed over to her and she turned before catching Marrone as the hostages mulled about nervously.

"S-Sie?!" Marrone looked horrified as Sienna grimaced before sighing.

"It's a long story," she said as they looked at Obito's unconscious form, now resting against the side of the building he'd slammed into. "Come on, we need to go and get him."

She got up slowly and then stumbled over with Marrone going on ahead.

"So, this is what you meant, huh?" She sighed as she slowly lifted Obito up before letting out a long and slow breath. "... Hm?"

Moreno stood there, shocked and horrified, as Sienna let out a low sigh. "Dad, this isn't…"

"W-When?" He asked in shock and Sienna grimaced.

"... 3 years ago," she admitted and he held his heart. "N-No, dad, listen, I…" Sienna sighed. "No, I don't have an excuse for this. I'm a gang member, that's the truth."

No more. No more lies, no more faking it, no more fucking treating Obito like he was dirt beneath her feet.

Sienna had honestly gotten tired of all the lying in her life.

"When we get home, I'll tell you everything," she said as he grimaced before looking at Obito. "Dad," there was no kindness in her voice as her father flinched. "... Dad, that's enough. He doesn't deserve this. You know it."

The man choked as she frowned.

"You heard him, didn't you? That sumbitch over there," Sienna spat at Victor's knocked-out form. "That woman wasn't… she was a lie. Obito didn't have anything to do with that," she said more as he growled, clenching his fists.

He turned away from her and looked down. "Go. I'll be home later."

"Dad-"

"Now, Sienna."

Sienna frowned before heading off with Marrone in tow.

Things had changed. For good or for worse.

For now, Obito needed a good healing.

~NRK~

So, welcome to the gangster/mafia/mob boss Obito story I thought up almost four years ago.

I've re-written this story numerous times. One had him outright the head of a gang already. Another had him and Sienna meeting in college, not related. Another had him meeting Fiona in college, and so on.

Lots of different versions but one thing was for sure: It was Obito Uchiha x Sienna Khan.

So, welcome to Version 4 of Atlas Wilds. This one is gonna be interesting.

Ciao.

Hell and Goat Chapter 4 is being worked on. Afterward, I'll probably free-form with whatever I want to write no matter how many chapters I will write for whatever I do.

Words: 17.2k+

~NRK Out~