AN: Hey everyone.

This feels kinda weird for me. Starting a new fic after nearly a decade of not writing anything. Not sure how many people even remember my old stuff, but that's probably for the best. The original manga had still been in publication back then so there were a lot of things I wrote that ended up being wrong. Not to mention I'm at a different point in my life now and would do things much different if I were to write it again.

So here's to new beginnings!

A little about this story for those stumbling into it. It is going to be a first-person point-of-view from the perspective of Obito. There will be cut-aways from this occasionally, and those will be in omniscient third-person. The big Canon-divergent point is that Obito made it in time to save Rin. As for any kind of ripple effects, I'll do my best to let the story tell those for itself. Although there might not be as many as you would expect initially.

A close personal friend of my with the pen-name, Jefardi, will be my beta for this.

The quote before the story is what served as the main inspiration for this idea and I like to think the essence of it can be felt throughout the whole project.


俺はカカシの友であり

お前の父の部下であり

サスケと同じうちはであり

そして・・・

俺はお前と同じ夢を見た先輩だった

I'm Kakashi's friend

Your Father's subordinate

An Uchiha just like Sasuke

And…

I was your senior who saw the same dream as you


Obito

Chapter 1 - Homecoming


In the distance, the gates to The Hidden Leaf Village slowly began to come into view.

A sight I hadn't seen for half a decade now, that being how long ago that I set out on my journey. Seeing them now, perfectly as I remembered them, brought forth a multitude of memories and emotions. Despite myself, I felt the edges of my lips curl upwards ever so slightly in the beginning of a smile.

"Oh-ho!" Only to disappear immediately, my typical grimace returning at the mocking chortle coming from my master and travelling companion. "Come on now," The Toad Sage and legendary pervert, Jiraiya, smirked from ear to ear as he leered down at me. "Don't be such a sour-puss, Obito! We're finally home." He and I walked side by side, our pace what could only be described as leisurely. It was more accurate to say this was the fastest we could currently go, considering the sizable crowd we walked among.

"It would appear so." My raspy voice was quiet in comparison to my Master's, his booming vocals generating looks from all those immediately around us.

Most of their gazes didn't linger, immediately averting their eyes back to the path ahead the moment they got a good look at my face. It was hard to blame them, as even I didn't care to look at my own reflection in the mirror. Years ago I had been caught under falling rocks while on a mission. While I was lucky to be alive, it hadn't been without consequence, deep scars maring the whole right side of my face in an almost semi-swirl pattern. Meanwhile, my left eye was closed shut, having given it up when I thought death was upon me.

To put it bluntly, my face wasn't what you would call easy on the eyes. Which is why most people couldn't stand looking at me. And Jiraiya wondered why I always made such a sour expression.

Having finally gotten a good look at some of their faces, however, I realized that many of the people around us appeared to be tourists. Sizable crowds weren't exactly a rare thing at this time of day, but it was pretty rare to have people in even these numbers entering the village all at the same time. Something was up, and I had a hunch it had to do with why we were finally returning to the village after all this time.

"What's going on, anyways?" I asked.

"Hmm?" Jiraiya's mocking tone disappeared briefly, although I suspected not for long. "You mean you didn't know? The Chunin Exams are in the Leaf this time." That certainly explained it. Looking more closely, I saw the headbands of several other Ninja villages mixed amongst the crowd now. Only during the Chunin Exams- a spectacle where Shinobi from allied nations fought against each other for promotion and entertainment- would this be the case. Well, that or an invasion, but this clearly didn't appear to be that.

"I thought Kakashi would have told you." Jiraiya continued. "Two of his students made it to the finals: Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto." Two names I was only all too familiar with. Neither one of them exactly holding good memories for me. Which was probably why Kakashi hadn't mentioned anything about it to me in the letters we regularly exchanged. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

The two of us entered into the shadow of the gates before I could inquire further. Posted on either side of the gate were half a dozen or so Chunin guards, their eyes glowering over all entrants to the village. No doubt Jiraiya and I would be recognized as Shinobi of the village, despite neither of us wearing any noticeable markings to denote our affiliation. My unmistakable facial characteristics aside, Jiraiya was arguably one of The Leaf's most famous Shinobi, part of an elite group known simply as The Sannin, as its name implied a group consisting of just three ninja.

It wasn't their gazes that interested me, however. No, it was the single eye of a familiar face that seemed to be calling out to us that caught my attention. Hatake Kakashi, the man we were just previously talking about, was slumped against the door of the open gate, orange book in hand to do some light reading while he waited for us.

"Yo." He greeted us as we approached him, having changed our direction the moment our eyes locked. "Late as always, Obito." These words got a genuine chuckle to slip past my lips despite myself. Once upon a time and those same words used to have real fire behind them, Kakashi sick of my constant tardiness back in the day.

"It's not my fault. I was helping guide this senile old fart." I retorted, extending my hand towards my teammate and best friend.

"Always the champion of the elderly, even now." Kakashi took my hand, the two of us giving a firm, if brief shake to acknowledge one another. There wasn't a need for anything more than that simple gesture. Despite the five year gap between this meeting and our last when he saw me off from this very spot, it felt like only a week had passed. In a way, we were still those young kids that hadn't yet been molded by war.

"Hey now, I may be old but my ears still work you brats." Jiraiya couldn't even sound angry if he tried, his big hands coming down on top of either of our heads and tussling our hair roughly. "Anyways," He let up quickly enough, stepping away from us as he began to make his way further into the village. "I'll leave you two lovebirds to catch up. I gotta go report to the real old fart." He called over his shoulder, leaving us behind.

By "the real old fart" he could only be referring to the Hokage, the title reserved for the strongest Ninja and leader of The Hidden Leaf Village. There were very few who could get away with referring to one in such an auspicious title by such words, but I guess the same could be applied to me in regards to how I acted around my Master. More importantly than that, however, was the other parting shot in which he left us with.

Many passersby had stopped and were now looking at the "lovebirds" or, Kakashi and me strangely, as if we were specimens in a lab. Unseemly whispers assaulted our ears, several of the girls smirking and snickering as they eyed the two of us lewdly.

"I think it's time we also take our leave." Kakashi suggested. Even his mask couldn't hide the creeping embarrassment, not that I was in any position to talk. I silently nodded to his suggestion, the two of us making a break for it at the same time. If it was possible, I heard those whispers only get louder as we fled the scene. We took to the rooftops, easily jumping from building to building by molding chakra into the bottom of our feet.

"You just had to provoke him." Kakashi cursed at me, as if the entire thing was my fault. "I should have expected no less from the author of Icha-Icha Paradise." When I mentioned earlier that my master was a legendary pervert, it wasn't just me bad-mouthing him for nothing. He was a legitimate professional pervert, having penned several best selling erotic novels. Of which Kakashi was a fan, if you must know.

"You get used to it, if you hang out with him long enough." I said. This wasn't the first time I had to flee out of second-hand embarrassment thanks to that old man's perverted antics. Although I usually wasn't the one at the butt of his crude humor. That was usually an honor reserved for all those poor women he flirted with over the years. Not that many of them seemed to mind. Jiraiya was surprisingly good with women despite being such a massive horn-dog. A trait in which I never did manage to learn from him. "Anyways, where are we going?" I really didn't have a destination in mind myself, but Kakashi had taken the lead sometime during our retreat and I had begun just instinctively following after him.

"The hospital." Was his simple answer. After that and there was silence, as I waited for him to continue and he waited for me to ask.

"Why?" I cracked first, asking the simple question I knew he was waiting for.

"I need you to do me a favor." Kakashi glanced at me out of the corner of his one visible eye. "As you may have noticed, The Chunin Exams are underway here in the village."

"I noticed." My reply was just that, short and dry.

"Well, as it so happens," He continued in an irritatingly cheery tone. "Two of my students happened to make it to the final round. So as you can imagine, I'm quite proud." I don't think anyone that was actually proud of their students spoke so sarcastically as they said that. "Anyways, the competition is looking quite formidable this year. If I try to split my time between both of them, I'm afraid they'll be unable to get the full benefit of having this month to prepare."

"Aren't you just being lazy?" I accused him. I'm not quite sure when it happened, but the serious and overly critical Kakashi I knew in my youth had slowly disappeared, replaced by this lackadaisical and often irresponsible lifeform. Not that I had much room to talk, there wasn't much left of the me from our childhood anymore either.

Kakashi chuckled and for a second I nearly snapped at him to take this more seriously. His next words, however, caught me off guard.

"Sasuke was targeted by Orochimaru. He branded him with some kind of curse seal." My mind began to whirl, several things clicking into place for me all at once. I had thought it was odd that Jiraiya would suddenly contact me, saying it was time for us to return to the village. The work we were doing was important, keeping tabs on the movement of mercenary groups that might pose a threat to The Leaf and her allies one day. If Orochimaru had returned to the village, however, it made sense that Jiraiya would also feel obligated to return. Only a Sannin was a match for another Sannin, and the third member of their group was still MIA, her loyalty to the village also in question. This only left my Master to deal with this threat. And if one from my clan had been targeted…

"So you want me to take care of Sasuke in case Orochimaru tries to take him again?" I asked. The logic was there, asking a student of one of the Sannin and a Uchiha like me certainly made sense on paper. There was just one thing that didn't add up. "Why wouldn't you ask Itachi instead of me?" Sasuke's older brother and the current clan head, not that there was much of a clan left to manage. Despite being nearly a decade younger than me, I would never want to fight him one on one. There was no one better to look after Sasuke then him.

"No, I'll be taking care of Sasuke." Kakashi surprised me again for the second time in a row. Something he seemed to be silently enjoying. "It will help me out a bunch if you take on Naruto." That was the next most obvious statement, yet for some reason hearing it out loud caused a lump to form in the back of my throat.

Truthfully, taking on either one of them as a student was something I didn't want to do. No, 'didn't want to do' wasn't the correct phrasing. I had no right to take on either one of them. In a way, I was responsible for the death of Sasuke's father and both of Naruto's parents. I may not have directly pulled the trigger on either of those incidents, but I might as well have. That's how grave my sins were.

"I know this is asking a lot for you, right now, but you need to face this eventually." Kakashi said. There was the strict squad captain that I remembered. It felt like forever since I'd been lectured by him like that. "At the very least come meet with him. You haven't seen him since his academy days, right? He's grown."

I opened my mouth to respond, but my throat was too dry, no words coming out. Instead I simply nodded. Kakashi was right, after all. I could at least afford to do that much. It's not like I would be able to avoid him forever now that I was back in the village. There was one other important factor, something I had been doing my best not to think about until now. Not something, but rather someone. Unlike Naruto, this wasn't because of bad memories. Rather the opposite. My teammate seemed to be thinking the same thing as me.

"Rin received official guardianship over him, you know?" Kakashi asked. But of course I knew. All these years and it was only Rin's monthly letters that truly kept me going. Just the small contact between us was all I needed, her written words the only light in the darkness that lit my way. Thanks to them, I knew most of what was happening with Naruto, Kakashi, and the village in general.

She had been the love of my life. No, it would be more accurate to say she still was. A love I had long since resolved myself to remain unrequited. Shortly after the death of our Sensei, she had taken on raising Naruto. We were too young at the time for her to claim guardianship of him, and there had been the issue of having two Jinchuriki so close together, but against all odds, her wish had finally been granted a couple years ago. I can still remember the joy practically pouring out from the ink in which she penned the words telling me the news.

"She's still single. Might be your chance." Kakashi said off-handedly.

"And whose fault do you think that is?" I snapped. When we were younger, Rin and Kakashi had dated for a while. Until the Demon Fox attack which changed so many lives. The three of us perhaps more than others. I don't know the details of what happened between them, but we all processed the grief in different ways. Rin poured herself into raising Naruto. Kakashi distanced himself by joining the Anbu Black Ops. And I… well, I wallowed in self-guilt, unable to tell either of them the truth of what really happened that night.

"Maybe you're right." Kakashi acknowledged. I started to apologize immediately, but he shook his head. We both knew I didn't really blame him for it. It was pretty obvious to everyone that I blamed myself.

Silence settled between the two of us, but it wasn't what I would call uncomfortable. We just understood each other, and no more words were needed at that moment. It didn't last long either, as we arrived at the hospital within the next few moments, Kakashi leading me confidently inside. I felt myself taking another deep breath, preparing for what I knew was coming. I didn't have any more time than that to prepare either, a loud racket coming from inside.

"What!?" A high-pitched yell echoed through-out the whole building. I almost thought it was an enemy jutsu designed to attack your eardrums. "Hey, hey! What the heck is up with that? Why can't Sasuke have any visitors?" As the voice kept shouting, I quickly began to recognize who it belonged to.

"Hey, Naruto." Kakashi didn't even appear phased, calmly calling out to his young charge as we entered the main lobby. "Keep it down in the hospital." His mild warning fell on deaf ears, Naruto already starting to shout as he ran up to us.

"Kakashi-sensei! Hey, hey! I have a favor to ask, y'know!" He had apparently already forgotten what he had just been yelling about. This hyperactivity and attention deficit was definitely his mother. His appearance, however, was so much like that of his father I nearly had to turn away from him.

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Kakashi cut him off before he could continue, saving us all the time as it was already obvious what he wanted. Not that it was really unusual for a student to want their teacher to actually teach them something. "Anyways, I knew this would happen so I already went ahead and found someone to supervise your training."

"Why!?" Naruto didn't even let him finish. "I don't need someone else, I want you to teach me, y'know!" That verbal tick was also no doubt something he picked up from his birth-mother, although I have no idea how since he never met her.

"Look, I've got something else to do so I don't have the time to babysit you right now." For whatever reason, Kakashi didn't mention it was to focus on Sasuke. Although I was kind of able to guess. Shameful as it was, I kind of used to be like that too when we were a team and viewed Kakashi as a pretty serious rival. So I can only imagine how Naruto would take it if he found out that was the case.

"Ahhh! You're gonna train Sasuke, aren't you!?" Or not. Busted already, although I guess it shouldn't come as too much of a shock.

"Come on, Naruto." Kakashi didn't bother denying it. He just kind of sighed instead, clearly already tired of his conversation. I could kind of see now why he was taking on Sasuke instead. "Anyways, I found a much better teacher for you than me."

This finally seemed to calm Naruto down. At the very least he couldn't be both curious and angry at the same time. Simple kids like him were so easy to understand, partially because I used to be that simple kid.

"Who is it?" He also apparently hadn't noticed me standing next to Kakashi yet, having been so singularly focused on his teacher this whole time.

"Hey there, Naruto…" I awkwardly held my hand up half-way, not really sure if I was attempting to wave at him or go for a handshake. He finally took notice of my presence, looking at me up and down with squinted eyes as if appraising a weapon in the shop.

"Who's this geezer?" He finally deadpanned.

"G-geezer…" I know I looked kinda old for my age, what with the scars on my face sometimes appearing as wrinkles from a distance, but he was far too close to mistake them for that. What's more, he apparently didn't seem to remember me at all. I know it had been more than five years ago, but I used to play with him and Rin together.

Kakashi let out a snicker and I shot him a dirty glare.

"Sorry, sorry." He held up a hand in apology before then using it to gesture at me. "Naruto, this is Obito. He's been away on a mission for some time now and just got back." I couldn't help but notice he didn't tell Naruto we used to be teammates. Apparently he didn't want to be lumped together with this 'geezer' as it had been so delicately put. "He's gonna teach you the basics, help round you out."

"The basics?" Naruto and I asked together. Even I had been under the impression he was… well, a little above the point of needing to be taught basics. Hell, he had made it to the finals of the Chunin Exams and you're telling me he didn't even have the basics down?

"Naruto." Kakashi drawled, looking down at him as if talking to a child. Which he kind of was, but even I knew that wasn't going to go over well. "Your basics are an absolute mess. They're extremely important in everything you do. If you really wanna be stronger, shut up and listen to what I tell you." And there it was.

The explosion I was expecting didn't happen right away. Naruto lowered his head, biting at his lower lip as he appeared to try and digest Kakashi's harsh words. Just as I was starting to think this kid was more mature than I was giving him credit for and he finally lost it.

"I don't like this after all! You might be right by saying the basics are more important, but there's no point if some weakling is the one teaching me!" First a geezer and now a weakling. This kid really didn't hold back what he was thinking. Lucky for him, I didn't exactly want to do this in the first place, otherwise I might have taken this as a challenge to prove him wrong.

"Hey, Naruto-" Kakashi started to scold him, but was cut off a second later.

"No!" Before anything more could be said, Naruto turned on his heel and sprinted full tilt out of the hospital, leaving the two of us in stunned silence.

"...Naruto?" A third person called out from behind us, no doubt coming to check on the racket. This voice caused my heart to begin to race, beating so loudly it felt like it was thundering inside my ears. My vision slowed as I turned around, bringing myself face to face with the person I both had been longing and dreading to see the most.

Nohara Rin.

Like me, she appeared to have frozen, brown eyes locking gazes with me. She was just as beautiful as I remembered, no… she had grown more beautiful over these past few years if that was even possible.

I knew she would be here at this time, but I hadn't expected to run into her, leaving me stuck gaping at her like an idiot. Rin had risen through the ranks of the Medical Ninja, and thus it was only natural for her to be at the hospital at this time. Still, I expected her to be too busy performing some kind of surgery or taking care of patients to come down and see us. Now that we had met, it was like we were playing a game of who could go the longest without moving. If it had been a game, I'm proud and embarrassed to say I won.

"Obito!" Rin flew across the distance between us, colliding into me with enough force to knock the breath from my lungs. She also might have broken a rib, so it was a good thing she was a medic, cause I was gonna need healing if that was the case. The pain quickly disappeared though, instead replaced by the warm sensation of the tight embrace she now held me in. "I missed you so much." Her soft voice tickled my ears, sending shivers down my spine.

In a moment that was both forever and not long enough, she finally took a step back, but to my relief not too far.

"When did you get back?" She asked. Her smile was absolutely radiant.

"Just now." I responded, surprised my voice worked at all. "This is actually the first place we came."

"I tried to introduce Naruto to him so Obito could take over his training." Kakashi said, thankfully taking over the talking for me. "It didn't go well. As you probably heard, he stormed out of here, refusing to take a new teacher."

"I see." Rin said, nodding several times. She then pumped both fists and smiled brightly at us. "Leave it to me. I'll talk some sense into him." I opened my mouth to tell her that wasn't necessary, when she suddenly took my wrapped right hand in both of hers. "Come by our place for dinner tonight. I'll properly re-introduce the two of you then."

"That's a relief." Kakashi didn't even wait for me to respond, starting to leave us behind as he moved deeper into the hospital. "I'm gonna go take Sasuke now then if that's okay. Not good to keep him in one place for too long." So Sasuke had been here too? This was news to me. Although it made sense if one of the Sannin had been the one to attack him, so it wasn't exactly shocking information.

"I still don't agree with this!" Rin called after him in vain. "He needs to heal properly before you take him!" The extent of his injuries couldn't have been minor, so he really shouldn't be moving if Rin was the one saying it. Kakashi was also right, however, you could never be too careful if that snake was involved.

"Yeah, yeah." Kakashi responded in that way that said he didn't actually care. "Anyways, see you later Obito. Sorry we don't have time to hang out, but as you can imagine I'm gonna be pretty busy." He didn't even turn around as he said goodbye to me, possibly for the next month. Despite this being the first time we saw each other in years. Just the way I liked it.

"Catch you when this is all over." I called back. He held up a lone hand over his shoulder. Then he was gone, disappearing around the corner.

"Geez," Rin placed both hands on her hips and huffed. "Just when we were finally all together again. Well, that's pretty typical Kakashi." Just as fast as she got worked up, her shoulders relaxed and she spun back to me. "So you're coming by for dinner, right? It's been so long. You have to tell me everything. Well, everything you can. Knowing Jiraiya-sama, I bet a lot of it is classified." She once again looked up at me, the expectations on her face blinding and in her voice deafening.

"Yeah, about that." I didn't have the guts to look her in the eye, averting my gaze to the floor. "I need to report to my clan, you know? I might not have the time tonight." It was a poor excuse, and I knew it. Part of me hoped she would let it go anyways. Instead, Rin's brown eyes once again entered my field of vision as she ducked down, grinning up at me in that cute way only she could.

"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." She stated resolutely. "You're technically not even a part of the clan anymore, remember?" She wasn't wrong per se. Although that was really more of a gray area at this point. While it was true, I had been banished after giving Kakashi one of my Sharingan eyes only to 'return from the dead' several months later, that had been under the old clan head. Once Itachi took charge, my relationship with the remaining members of the clan was what you would call better. It was more complicated than that, but 'better' was really the only word for it.

"I'll see what I can do, okay?" I sighed. It For all I knew, the clan really was planning something that I was going to end up getting wrapped into. Some kind of Orochimaru counter-measures for example. There weren't many of us left, so if one of us was targeted it was going to get very personal very quickly. The Uchiha clan wasn't exactly known for being the most forgiving in the village.

"Yes!" Rin jumped back, pumping her fists. "It's a promise! Just you wait, I'll prepare your favorites and everything. You haven't had Konoha cooking in forever, right? And don't worry about Naruto, we'll bring him around to like you yet." Apparently she took my words as a definite, rather than the half-hearted rejection I intended them as.

Still, I couldn't help the natural grin that split my face, finally getting the chance to see her beaming smile after all these years.

"Yeah," I closed my eye and nodded. "I'm looking forward to it."

At the very least, I don't think those words were a lie. It was just… the last time I made a promise to Rin, I hadn't exactly been able to keep it.


After that Rin had to return to work.

I mentioned it earlier, but she was fairly important among the hospital staff, meaning she had quite a few responsibilities that couldn't be blown off just to catch up with me. So I left the hospital to allow her to properly attend to her duties. I also really hadn't been lying about going to see my clan, so that was the next thing I set out to do, making my way to the Clan Estate.

The Uchiha Compound used to be a whole district located within the village, numerous separate families all living together as a single clan. Now, it was just a single large, traditional-style home, tall white walls surrounding it. One might think going from an entire district to a single house was quite the downgrade, and they'd be right. There was only six of us left, however, so it was enough.

With such small numbers and all being survivors of the tragedy that brought us to the brink, you would assume that made us a rather close-knit bunch. For the others, that was probably true, but for me it was a little different. Rin brought it up earlier, but I'd been banished from the clan once before. While I don't think any of the current clan really cared much about that anymore, it still felt awkward for me to enter. Almost like I was trespassing where I shouldn't, that was the feeling I always got when I came back here.

Which is why I usually found myself loitering outside the front door, exactly as I was doing right now. Whenever this happened, there was always one person I could count on to come to my rescue.

"Ah, Nii-san! You're back!" Uchiha Izumi called out to me just as I had been debating about turning around and running away while I still had the chance.

Izumi ran up to me from the side, her arms full of groceries, no doubt just now returning from a shopping trip. Thankfully this served to save me from another rib shattering hug-tackle. Although I could tell she was considering dropping everything to do just that as she approached.

Having been born a half-blood, a rather derogatory term for someone birthed between parents of Uchiha and outside ancestry, Izumi had been raised away from the clan during her early formative years. This meant all the bad rumors within the clan about me were things she wouldn't find out until after she had graduated and became a Genin. By then, she and I had already formed a kind of sibling rapport, both of us Uchiha in a way outside the clan. She was a kind girl, then and even now. It wouldn't be underselling it to say if not for her, I very well might have been one of the casualties that fateful night our clan fell into ruin.

"Yo, Izumi." I raised my hand and she predictably ran under it, already anticipating the customary head-pat I would give her as a greeting. "Good to see you're energetic. I've got plenty of souvenirs for you from all the lands I've been to." Despite having not brought back so much as even a rucksack, what I said wasn't a lie. One of the perks of having access to an alternate space-time dimension was being able to travel light and yet still have access to anything I needed at any given time.

"Really?!" Izumi appeared to light up, although I couldn't help but wonder if she wasn't just humoring me. She was an adult now too, after all, and a Jonin the same as me. I wouldn't be surprised if she had been to just as many countries as I had. Even if she was just playing along, I couldn't say I cared too much. Sometimes it was nice to just pretend we were younger again.

"You bet, now here. Give me some of those, I'll help you take them inside." I took the majority of the bags from Izumi, their heavy weight dragging my arms down.

"Thanks, Nii-san." Izumi allowed me to take them without complaint, stepping towards the compound to unlock the door and let us both in. "It will be nice to have you around again. Don't get me wrong, I love Itachi and all, but everyone here is kinda dour, you know?" One other thing I forgot to mention, but Izumi was currently dating the clan head, had been since before he even took the position. At this point, it was pretty much a guarantee she was going to become the clan matriarch one day.

As we stepped inside the entranceway and then further into the house to put the groceries away, the two of us continued to make small talk. There wasn't really anything of note, just what she'd be doing until now, what countries I had been to. Mostly harmless chatter. Which in and of itself, was worthy of note.

For all the talk about ourselves and the clan, I noticed Izumi was tip-toeing around anything that had to do with Sasuke. Which was fine with me, as I wasn't exactly looking to jump straight into business so soon after just coming together for the first time in what felt like forever. It just also seemed unnatural to not have it brought up at all.

Business had to come sooner or later, unfortunately, and as soon as we finished packing away the last cupboard I sensed a new presence at the threshold of the room.

"Obito." Itachi greeted me plainly and without emotion. You would have thought he was stating a fact. My name is Obito. It was that kind of monotone, completely opposite of the welcoming affection towards someone you would call family.

"Itachi." I turned, inclining my head out of respect to him as the clan leader. Just as I sensed, he stood right at the boundary to the room, the door frame casting his upper half in a dark shadow, only his shins on downwards illuminated by the kitchen light. In the darkness, the blood red of his Sharingan was clearly visible, as if the eyes themselves were glowing. It was an intimidating presence, despite the age difference. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced. I just returned to the village." Speaking formally was never a strong suit of mine. When I was a kid I was too stubborn and brash to see the necessity. Now as an adult I cursed my stubborn younger self.

"It's fine." Itachi said. He had yet to move from his spot, simply continuing to stare at us from the darkness. "Your timing is quite well. I'm sure you already heard from Hatake Kakashi about our situation." So it would seem I wasn't getting out of this after all. Part of me had hoped that Izumi's silence on the topic was an indication that they planned to keep me out of whatever it was they were thinking behind the scenes. No such luck, of course.

"Yeah, I did." I admitted. There was no point in hiding anything. "I get the feeling my return to the village at this time isn't much of a coincidence. Master Jiraiya is the one who called me back. We returned together."

The blood red of Itachi's Sharingan vanished temporarily, the younger man closing his eyes as he contemplated my words.

"That is… reassuring." He said. There was another moment's pause. "I would appreciate it if we could discuss this in more detail. As a student of Jiraiya and Hatake Kakashi's friend, your input would be invaluable." It wasn't very often you heard the head of a clan asking one who had been formerly banished from that same clan for a favor. Hell, he would be within his rights to demand I give him all the information I had on the matter and I would be in no position to refuse.

That just went to show how desperate Itachi was about this whole thing. It was no surprise, I don't think there were any limits to what he would go through in order to protect his younger brother, Sasuke. The same cold-blooded Itachi who sacrificed his own father for the good of the village would turn around and throw that same village away if it meant his brother could be saved. In a way, it was no different than what I would do for Rin, which was why I made it as far as I had. So yeah, I understood Itachi and where he was coming from.

Before I could answer, Izumi crossed the room and wrapped an arm through his waist.

"Come on, Itachi." She chided. "Let's talk about this somewhere we can all be comfortable. Nii-san has been on his feet all day."

Itachi tilted his head to silently regard her.

"You're right." He said after several moment's pause. "I apologize, even though I'm always telling you to analyze things coolly, I'm acting like this." Izumi smiled, accepting his apology for the both of us. She snaked a hand around the back of his neck and pulled his face down into the light, planting a quick kiss on his cheek before moving into the other room to prepare it for us.

I followed after her.

"I'll help however I can, Itachi." I whispered just as I passed him. "Sasuke is my family too." It might have been a trick of my imagination, but I could have sworn I heard him exhale sharply, as if chuckling underneath his breath. Almost definitely just my imagination.

The main room of the Uchiha household was a large tatami layout, a single low rectangular table placed in the middle. Not really anything outside the ordinary for a clan as old as the Uchiha. All the same, I couldn't help but take in the atmosphere of such a room whenever I entered inside it. These kinds of rooms were rare outside of the Leaf, so being inside them carried a feeling of nostalgia for my early life, back when it was just me and my grandmother.

I didn't get the opportunity to enjoy such a trip down memory lane, as two other people I hadn't been expecting were also inside the room. Izumi had already taken her place at the left side of the table, closest to the far end. She was pouring tea for all of us, completely unaware of the sudden hitch in my step. Located across from her was Uchiha Mikoto, Itachi's mother and the eldest surviving Uchiha clansmen. Then to her right was Uchiha Shisui, Itachi's best friend.

"Mikoto-sama." I cleared my throat, taking a seat on the cushion next to Izumi, my official spot at the clan table. A steaming cup of tea was placed in front of me, but I ignored it for the moment. "You have nothing to worry about in regards to your son. Kakashi is looking after him." I don't know why these were the first words I felt I had to tell her. Generally speaking, bringing up the copy-ninja by name was never a good idea in this house. I just got so damn nervous whenever faced with the only Uchiha older than me. Not that she ever gave me a reason to. It's just old habits die hard and you would probably be stressed too if faced with the widow of the man who banished you from your own clan.

She smiled gently at me.

"Thank you, Obito." She said, before taking a sip from her own hot tea. "It's good to see you."

That hurdle cleared, my attention slipped briefly to Shisui. There were no words passed between us, just simple nods of acknowledgment.

There wasn't time for more than that as Itachi took his seat at the head of the table. Minus Sasuke, and this was the entirety of the Uchiha clan. Even reduced to this and I couldn't imagine why Orochimaru would dare make us into enemies. The power in this room alone could bring a small nation to its knees, and that wasn't hyperbole. His lust for Jutsu and power must have truly driven him to madness, that was the only possible explanation.

"I think we can all agree, Orochimaru's objective is simple." Itachi kicked off this informal clan meeting by cutting right to the heart of the matter. "He wants to obtain the Sharingan. For that reason, he's targeted my younger brother and marked him with some kind of cursed chakra. At the moment, we can't say what it is, but we should assume the end goal is in line with that objective." It would certainly be in character for the Snake Sannin to be targeting the Sharingan. It wouldn't be his first attempt either. There was just one thing slightly off about this.

"It's not enough for him to just take the Sharingan." Shisui spoke for the first time since I entered the room, his thoughts in line with my own. "If it was, he would have done that in the Forest of Death when they first encountered him." As expected of the man with the greatest Dojutsu ever produced by our clan. Shisui's analytical abilities were second to none.

It was exactly as he said. Certainly, Orochimaru could pluck out the eyes and plant them in his own sockets, but even then the Sharingan would never truly be his. He could control it, yes, but there would be a limit to how far he could take the Sharingan's power. Kakashi was one example, who had my left eye. The toll for using it was incredibly taxing on his chakra, not to mention he was incapable of deactivating it at will, forcing him to always cover it up to keep from unnecessary chakra waste. There were just as many downsides as there were benefits to taking the Sharingan for yourself when you hadn't been born with it.

So if not that then what?

"Perhaps we should look to the past?" Mikoto asked of us all, but it was clear no one knew what she was talking about. Her eyes settled on me and I then had a pretty good idea what she was thinking. "He once attempted to abduct Obito as well. Shortly after he was exiled from the clan. It was the failure in that abduction that led to his illegal experiment exposure in the first place and what ultimately got him banished from the village."

"...W-what!?" Izumi half-rose from her cushion, all three of the younger Uchiha now looking to me with varying levels of surprise. I guess it couldn't be helped that they didn't know. When that incident happened they would have been quite young. Not to mention the rest of the clan didn't exactly talk about me, if it wasn't to warn the others not to turn out the way I did.

Still, I got what Mikoto was saying, but "I don't think we should look at these two incidents in the same light." I said. "In my case, rather than the Sharingan it had been this they were after." I indicated vaguely to the entire right side of my torso. None of them could see it with my clothes and the medical wraps covering my right arm down to the fingers, but they knew it was the pasty white flesh beneath that I was referring to.

"Who is 'they' in this scenario?" Itachi asked, immediately catching my slip of the tongue. I really couldn't afford to drop my guard around these guys, own clan or not. Oh well, it's not like this was information I was trying to hide and they would understand immediately when I said it.

"Orochimaru was working together with Danzo at that time." I said. If it was possible, the temperature of the room dropped a couple degrees at the vocalization of that second name. "There wasn't enough to convict him of anything when it happened, but as you know he was after the Sharingan himself, and they both thought the cells in my right arm might hold the key to helping them control it." I looked purposefully at Shisui, who held my gaze steadily. He knew more than anyone what Danzo had been capable of and how far he would go to achieve his desires. All of this being in the past tense, of course. "It's probably safe to say he's not involved anymore."

That's right, Danzo was dead. Executed on account that he was the one held primarily responsible for the Uchiha Incident in which he mobilized his personal secret military, the Root, to wipe us all out.

Danzo himself had personally attempted to start it by going after Shisui first. Meanwhile, I had never really quit keeping tabs on him after he and Orochimaru had teamed up to rip my new flesh from me. So by some miracle I managed to catch wind of what he was planning and had been able to save Shisui. Then the two of us working together were able to warn Izumi and Itachi in time, but we were too late to stop it and save everyone else. If not for Itachi's quick thinking and that powerful love he had for his brother motivating him, Mikoto and Sasuke would have died too.

After that, Itachi, Izumi, Shisui and I more or less wiped out all of Root that same night before taking Danzo in alive for public execution. So like I said, it wasn't a good idea to make us your enemy. Orochimaru knew all this and yet he made a move on us anyway. What's more, targeting the weakest of us and the clan head's beloved younger brother. He must be really confident in whatever he had planned.

"I think…" Shisui leaned forward, now directing his full attention to Itachi. "We should consider that this might be larger than just our clan. Orochimaru's ambitions and hatred are deeper than we can imagine. Sasuke might just be a means to an end or a smaller piece in a bigger picture." This was probably the harsh reality of the situation and not one Itachi could see easily. Sasuke was his world, so it was probably hard for him to imagine that Sasuke wasn't also the center-piece in whatever plan it was Orochimaru was cooking up. Thankfully Shisui was the one to say it and not me.

Itachi sighed, but nevertheless nodded in acceptance to Shisui's words.

"Then what we need to consider next is to what ends he would seek to use the Sharingan for. Something he wouldn't be able to do with it without complete mastery. If it's bigger than us, the next most obvious thing would be the Leaf itself. So what's big enough to take down the whole village?" The moment those words left his mouth and all eyes again turned to me.

"The Nine-Tails." I cursed under my breath. The most powerful force on the planet were Nine Tailed Beasts, each one of them the size of a small mountain. At least, they were that large when not stored inside a human Jinchuriki host. In order to properly tame such power, equally powerful eyes were required. Like what happened that night over a decade ago when the Nine-tailed Demon Fox rampaged across the village. If Orochimaru was attempting to replicate that, we were in deeper trouble than I imagined.

This also meant it wasn't just Sasuke being targeted, but you guessed it… Uzumaki Naruto. The current Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, and wouldn't you know it, the kid I had just tried to get outta having to babysit. I had a feeling I was just about to lose my best excuse too.

"Are you still close with the Three-Tail's Jinchuriki?" Itachi asked. Thing is, Naruto wasn't the only host of a Tailed Beast in the village. Whereas he had been Nine-Tail's host from birth, however, Rin didn't become a Jinchuriki until during the last war, when we were Chunin Ninja. It was one of the reasons it had been so hard for her to legally become his guardian, as several of the higher ups in the village weren't comfortable with two weapons of mass destruction living together.

Izumi chuckled, answering for me.

"Nii-san is still close to her alright, if you know what I mean." She held up her pinky finger, grin splitting her face from ear to ear.

"We are not like that!" I rebutted, trying and failing to cool my warming cheeks. It wasn't just Izumi, but Mikoto was stifling her own giggles, and Shisui eyed me dubiously, not at all buying my rebuttal. Itachi was the only one to not break character.

"You are still in contact with her, however?" He clarified. "You're the best one we can ask to keep an eye on her, not to mention the case of Uzumaki Naruto." There it was, almost like some greater power was trying to push me closer to him despite my wishes.

"A-anyways, my relationship to Rin aside, Kakashi asked me to take over training Naruto today. So if I must… I suppose I could do that in order to better keep an eye on him." I didn't exactly like being forced into volunteering myself for this task, but if it would get Izumi to drop her teasing for the moment, it was a small price to pay.

Itachi nodded. "Good. There's still a lot of information we are lacking, but for now it is important to cover all our bases. We'll leave that to you and trusting Sasuke in the hands of Hatake Kakashi is probably the best course of action at the moment." It must have taken a lot for him to admit that, but it really was the best course of action. Hiding Sasuke within the clan would be the obvious move and right now it was best to try and not be predictable, especially where Orochimaru was concerned, something which Itachi understood well.

As for me, I had expected that by coming here I would manage to find an excuse to get out of training Naruto, instead I was going to be leaving here having locked myself into it. Dammit. What's more, it was looking more and more like I was careening into a collision course with Orochimaru.

"I guess that means I should go talk to Anko-chan then?" Izumi asked, temporarily dropping her teasing smile as she made a serious suggestion. Anko had once been a student of Orochimaru, before his defection.

"That would be good. Thank you." Itachi nodded. He had said it earlier, but we as a clan didn't have a lot of information on what Sasuke had been marked with. However, just because we didn't know anything, didn't also mean the village was without answers. Anko had been marked with some kind of seal by Orochimaru in the past as well. Whether or not it was entirely the same thing or simply a prototype, none of us could say. But it was imperative we followed up on every lead we had.

Anyways, all those other leads would be up to the rest of the clan. My role in all this had already been decided.

"I think that should be enough for now, Itachi." Mikoto stood up, bringing an official end to our emergency gathering. "It's getting late. Izumi and I will prepare dinner." She then looked at me. "Will you be joining us tonight?" That right there was the million ryo question. I really had been trying to get out of my dinner with Rin earlier, but now that I had an obligation to take on Naruto's training, it was harder to justify not going over. Not to mention the guilt that panged my heart whenever I remembered Rin's excited smile as she planned our evening together.

"Sorry, I actually promised Rin already to eat with her and Naruto." I inclined my head towards Mikoto, also not feeling good about turning down her offer either. When I looked back up though, she had a warm smile.

"Still in contact indeed, I see." She said, subtle mirth tainting her tone.

"Feel free to return at any point." Itachi could at least be counted on to not give me a hard time about anything. He walked around the side of the table and extended a hand. "We will have your room prepared before tonight. So if you have no other arrangements, please don't hold back and stay with us." I took his hand, allowing him to hoist me to my feet, before giving a firm shake.

"Thank you." I said. There had been a lot of anxiety about coming here, but ever since Itachi had become the clan head, he never did anything but try and make me feel welcome back into the clan. Small though it may be now. It was just… it was my fault things had gotten to this point. There were so many things I could have done differently that might have been able to prevent that. Which is why I always felt so guilty about the kindness he gave me.

It was far more than someone like me deserved, after all.


Interlude


The Third Hokage took a long drag on his pipe, taking comfort in the slight high granted by the nicotine.

"You're late, Jiraiya." Hiruzen removed the pipe from his mouth to speak, eyes drifting down to his former student. The Toad Sage leaned on the wall on the opposite end of the office, arms crossed and eyes closed as if to fake sleep. It might have been convincing if not for the large, lecherous grin on his face.

"My bad." Jiraiya apologized, although there was no real honesty behind the words. "Couldn't help myself, you know? The ladies of Konoha really are a different breed. Before I knew it I found myself ensnared by their lovely charms!"

This was exactly why Hiruzen smoked, he decided.

"Did you at least bring the report I asked for?" He was too exhausted to play along with Jiraiya's games at the moment. Lately, he'd become more and more tired. It wasn't easy to be Hokage at his age and the strain of the role was beginning to take its toll on his old bones. He really needed to retire. Which is exactly why Jiraiya's report was so important.

"Right here, old man." Jiraiya reached into the folds of his kimono and pulled out a small scroll. With a flick of the wrist and aim that could only be achieved with years of practice, he lobbed the scroll right into Hiruzen's outstretched palm. "Everything I've taught Uchiha Obito over the past five years. All his abilities, credentials, and accomplishments. Just like you asked."

"Hmm," Hiruzen nodded, placing the scroll on the desk, but not bothering to open it for the time being. There would be time to go through it later. Perhaps under the natural light of day. For now, he would just ask. "And? In your opinion, what do you think?"

Jiraiya was silent for several seconds, no doubt contemplating how best to answer.

"Frankly speaking, his capabilities make him more than ready enough for the role of Hokage. Even just ignoring his accomplishments in the field and the amazing ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan, his decision making is already Kage-level. Having experienced the Nine-Tails attack and Uchiha Incident has forced him to face the darkness of the Shinobi world and it's honed his senses, he's more than capable of making tough decisions under extreme pressure."

There was a pause.

"...But?" Hiruzen could tell there was more, but for some reason Jiraiya was reluctant to say it.

"Those same events that have made him an excellent Shinobi have also broken his spirit." Jiraiya said with a scroff. "The Obito that wants to become Hokage is still in there somewhere. I've seen it from time to time, it's just buried under a mountain of guilt."

Well that was pretty typical. The problem was almost never finding someone powerful enough to take on the mantle of Hokage. It was finding someone willing to do the role that was always his problem. As many young students as there were at the Academy who professed their dream was one day to become the Hokage, so very few of them ever held onto the dream to the end. You either lived long enough to realize you didn't want to become Hokage, or died before you could give up.

Hiruzen had once hoped Jiraiya would take the job, but his student had been the first to turn him down. Perhaps it was out of feelings of guilt for that in which Jiraiya was so motivated to find the next replacement. At first, Obito had seemed like such a sure-fire thing too. He was a student of the Fourth Hokage, and the passion for the position had been there. He was even one of the rare Uchiha to carry the First Hokage's Will of Fire.

"Is there nothing to be done about it?" Hiruzen wondered aloud. "If it's possible, I would like to retire after the conclusion to these Chunin Exams. I've done this for a long time now and knowing I was able to put someone young and that can handle the job for a long time in charge might help me finally rest in peace."

"Come on, Sensei." Despite his earlier misgivings, Jiraiya's usually cocky grin had returned. "You don't think I came back to the village to just give you bad news, do you? It's not like I'm completely without a couple ideas on how to handle this. The first one should already be in motion as we speak." He pushed off the wall, ambling slowly over towards the Hokage's desk.

"Oh? And what kind of ideas do you have in mind?" Hiruzen asked, just hoping it didn't have anything to do with women.

Jiraiya silently walked past his teacher, coming to the window sill and leaning against it to look outside.

"I sent a message to Kakashi just before we arrived. He agreed to help us out with our little problem. While he's focusing on Sasuke, Obito is gonna be stuck training Naruto for the next month." He said.

"...Naruto?" Hiruzen's eyes widened and an involuntary smirk crossed his lips. "I see, that just might be the thing Obito needs." He would admit it, as far as plans went this one wasn't bad. Naruto was practically a mirror-image of young Obito. Maybe by spending time with his old self again, it would help to reawaken that spark in Obito that had nearly been extinguished.

A way to rekindle his Will of Fire and give him the confidence to once again reach for the mantle of Hokage.


Interlude - End


For the second time today I found myself loitering outside the door to someone's home.

Unlike the large, traditional style house of the Uchiha clan, Rin lived at the top floor in a relatively small, but modern apartment building located near the hospital where she worked. She probably could have afforded to move into a larger place, but raising Naruto as a sort of single-mother hadn't exactly left her with a surplus of cash, despite the cushy position she currently occupied. I also don't think she was unhappy with the current living arrangement and I never heard her complain about it.

This was actually the first time I had ever been here in person. Rin and Naruto had moved in together shortly after she was granted official guardianship, something that wouldn't happen until after I already set out on my journey with Jiraiya. Which just made it all the harder for me to muster up the courage and knock on the door. And unlike at the Uchiha mansion, Izumi wasn't going to come popping out to save me the trouble.

Yet I couldn't stand here forever.

Not seeing much other choice, I knocked on the door with three loud taps. There was no time to regret the decision, an immediate loud commotion occurring on the other side, someone scrambling to get to the door as quickly as possible. A second later and it was thrown wide open, Naruto's face thrusting outside and glaring up at me.

"..." There was a several moment silence where we just stared at one another, as if we had both frozen in place.

"Ah! It's you!" Apparently it took him that amount of time to recognize me. Now that he had, I found myself accosted by an accusatory finger poking into the center of my chest. "I thought I already told you I wasn't interested, Mister- '' He paused again, finger slowly lowering as he crossed his arms and took an exaggerated thinking stance. "...What the heck was your name again?" Definitely his mother's kid alright.

"Obito." I answered. "...Uchiha Obito." It wasn't typical that I gave out my family name. In the village you were generally met with skepticism, if not suspicion when they found out such information. Outside of the Leaf and it was outright hostility. However, I had a feeling that with Naruto it would help speed things along.

"...Uchiha?" My hunch appeared to pay off, Naruto taking the bait and finally lowering his guard. Not much, mind you, but at the very least his former aggressiveness gave way to weary curiosity. "You related to Sasuke then?" Seeing how there weren't exactly too many Uchiha, it was probably safe to say that was indeed the case.

I kept that snarky comment to myself, giving a soft smile and nodding instead. Had to at least try to play nice.

"That's right. You could say I'm like something of an uncle to him." It was a little more complicated than that, of course. It wasn't entirely inaccurate either. Izumi viewed me as a kind of big-brother figure and she was practically married to Itachi at this point. Which in a way made Sasuke and I closer to being brothers than anything, but only if you really stretched the logic.

"Hmm… well I never heard of 'ya!" Naruto yelled. He then crossed his arms and turned his nose at me. Ignoring the fact that Sasuke never talked about me, I used to play with this kid in the park together with Rin. We'd freaking met before, and more than once. He had been a little kid at the time so as far as excuses went for why he wouldn't remember, he had a solid one. Didn't make my urge to want to suddenly throttle him any less.

Before I could do just that, Rin came around the corner.

"Obito! I was wondering when you would show up. Come in, I just finished cooking." Between the towel she was using to dry her hands and the pink apron she had on, Rin really did give off the image of a maternal-figure. It was an image I just couldn't shake out of my head, rooting me in place as I stared at her like some sort of creep.

Fortunately for me, Naruto was there to snap me out of it.

"What!?" He yelled, probably at the top of his lungs. I felt a sudden pity for any neighbors they had. "Nee-chan, you know this geezer?" Again with the geezer comment. I wasn't that old, dammit!

Rin held a hand to her mouth, trying and failing to stifle a giggle.

"You don't remember Obito? He used to play with us all the time." This caused Naruto to double-take, his blue eyes studying my face for what really might have been the first time. It was uncomfortable, to be honest. People rarely had the stomach to stare at my scared facial features for any extended amount of time, but that in itself was a blessing. They say scars are a Shinobi's pride but I rarely felt that way about my own. Naruto didn't seem to care at all, if anything it felt more like he was attempting to look into my soul, not my external characteristics.

"I guess you do look kinda familiar…" He relented, but I really wasn't so sure he was being honest. Again, it was kinda hard to forget my face. Most people didn't just 'kinda' remember someone that had once had half their head smashed in by a rock. It was probably fair to say Naruto also wasn't most people.

"Anyways, don't just stand at the door." Rin gestured me further inside. "We can take time to catch up over dinner. Go set the table for us, Naruto." She said.

He verbalized his agreement, before finally dashing off into the apartment and allowing me to enter.

"Sorry for dropping by after I said I wouldn't." I said, taking my shoes off and moving deeper into their place. The aroma of Rin's home cooking battered my nostrils and caused my mouth to water. It would seem she really did cook all my favorites.

Rin simply shook her head.

"I knew you would show up." She declared confidently. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It might not be an exaggeration to say she knew me better than I knew myself. With the only exception being the feelings I harbored towards her. "How did the business with your clan go?" She asked.

"Yeah…" I couldn't help but rub the back of my head awkwardly. "Turns out, they have an interest in keeping a protective eye on Naruto themselves, so… here I am." I said. There was a brief flash of worry across Rin's face but it disappeared so fast I almost failed to catch it. Sending someone to check on the Jinchuriki likely wasn't new to her. She'd dealt with it personally for a long time now. All the same, it was never good news when a specific clan took interest in them. The only reason I could be this upfront about it was because it's Rin.

"Orochimaru?" She asked, her voice low enough Naruto couldn't possibly hear. I nodded, no need to provide further information than that. Rin already knew about Sasuke, after all. There were enough pieces there for her to be able to put everything together even without me spelling it out. It was bad news all around. Yet despite that, she was somehow able to give a victorious smirk.

"The heck? And here I thought I was gonna need to convince both of you into hanging out together. With that matter settled, I leave Naruto in your care, O- bi- to." She gloated, dropping my name syllable at a time. Not a very gracious winner, if I said so myself.

"Whatever," I clicked my teeth. "It just happens to be what works out for everyone. That's all, no need to make a big deal out of it." Probably fair to say I wasn't exactly a good loser either. A fact that had gotten me into all kinds of trouble as a kid and something she knew all too well.

"Big deal outta what?" Naruto asked. The two of us having already made it into the small combined dining-kitchen area where Naruto was just finishing setting the plates for us. He took his seat, eyes never leaving me the whole time, even going as far to trace me all the way to when I sat down across from him.

It was Rin that answered. "Kakashi told you about it earlier, right? Obito here is going to take over your training until your final exam." She sat down next to me, ignoring the sour face he made. She picked up her chopsticks and the two of us did the same. Saying a quick thanks for the food, we all began to dig in.

"...You any good?" Naruto asked between gulps of food, practically a vacuum-cleaner with the speed and suction in which he inhaled it. It was hard to tell if he was pouting or just really that engrossed in eating. Probably a little of both. At the very least, he seemed more open to the idea of allowing me to teach him now.

"Obito is a Jonin of the village, you know, and a protégé under one of the Sannin." Rin in contrast slowly picked at her food, seeming to savor every bite and only speaking after she had finished chewing. It was honestly amazing how two vastly different styles of eating could co-exist under the same roof. "What's more, he used to be on the same team as Kakashi and I, under your father." These words finally got him to stop gorging out, at least long enough to look me up and down once again.

"No kidding?" He asked. "Now that I think about it, you said your last name was Uchiha? That means you got the same Sharingan as Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei?" It would appear he was at least somewhat quick on the uptake, at least as far as my clan's dojutsu was concerned. Still, what a loaded question. I ended up glancing at Rin, but she simply nodded at me as if telling me it was okay to let him know.

I put my chopsticks down, taking a break from my own food to speak.

"Your choice of words is funny, even if unintentional." Raising my hand, I placed several fingers very purposefully just below my closed left eye. "You could say Kakashi and I have the exact same Sharingan. Two of a kind." Naruto's eyes widened, mouth falling open and he grew silent for the first time that I ever met him. It didn't last long, a feral grin suddenly taking place and he let out an ecstatic giggle.

"Say, say! When Kakashi-sensei said earlier that you were stronger than him, was that what he meant?" He asked. Now that I thought about it, Kakashi had said something like that. I don't think he was talking about the levels of our Sharingan or because I was the original owner of his eye or anything like that, but I could easily see how Naruto would have come to interpret it that way. Still, I wasn't about to let the opportunity pass, not when I finally had a chance to appear better than Kakashi.

I smiled, enjoying the sense of satisfaction.

"That's right. That's exactly what he meant." No sooner did those words leave my mouth and I made the mistake of glancing at Rin. She was grinning in my direction, enjoying the short banter between Naruto and I. My face turning red, I returned my focus to the food.

Naruto didn't appear to notice or care, instead clapping his hands together in appreciation for the food he just ate.

"Okay! It's decided then, I'll let you show me a thing or two after all!" He declared. Somehow I got the feeling it was supposed to be the other way around. All the same, I was just gonna let it be. Things would precede more smoothly if we were both on the same page and in agreement to working together. The way we got to that agreement didn't really matter. "Hey, hey!" Although it would appear Naruto was already moving onto a different topic. "What kinda teacher was my dad like? Wasn't he like… totally awesome?!"

"Minato-sensei…?" I asked, pausing momentarily. Just saying his name caused a piercing pain in my heart and I nearly dropped my chopsticks. It took all my willpower not to allow that anguish to show on my face. This whole time and looking at Naruto alone was enough to bring back all the memories of my time as his father's subordinate. Which is why I had been maintaining my guard until now, doing anything I could not to think about it.

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto was oblivious as always, getting up from his chair and running to the window. I knew where he was looking without even having to think about it- The Hokage Monument. "Of course, I've heard all about him from Nee-chan, but like, how to say, it's just not enough, y'know?" Oh, I knew alright. Like Naruto, I grew up not knowing either of my parents. So I understood more than anyone how big that gaping hole had been in his life, how big it still was.

And to know I was the who to cause that hole was almost too much to bear.

"My dream is to one day become the Hokage just like him, y'know!" He proclaimed, spinning back to me and flashing the most genuine, blinding smile I had ever seen in my life. "Actually, I'm gonna become a Hokage even greater than him!"

I was speechless. How could I possibly say anything to such a proclamation? What even was I supposed to say considering everything?

"How nostalgic." Rin said, giggling as she watched Naruto's antics with warm eyes. "I remember when you used to say the same things all the time, Obito. You and Minato-sensei used to get so fired up talking about what the two of you would do after you became Hokage." This statement immediately caught Naruto's attention.

"You wanna be Hokage too?" He asked, and suddenly it felt like the way he was looking at me had somehow changed. There was no perceptible difference, but something in the air around him shifted. Almost as if he had just acknowledged me in some way. I had to tell him he was wrong. That the person Rin was remembering was already dead and gone. The me that wanted to become Hokage had died the same day as Minato-Sensei had, my dream disappearing along with the man that had been able to accomplish it.

Yet I couldn't do it. How could I? I had already taken so much from Naruto, how was I possibly supposed to tell him to give up on his dream too?

"That settles it then," Naruto nodded, coming to some conclusion while I internally struggled with what to say to him. "From here on out, you're Obito-senpai!"

"...Senpai?" Rin and I asked at the same time, neither of us seeing where this was suddenly coming from.

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto continued to nod as if it was obvious. "I've been debating what to call you this whole time, y'know. Just referring to you as 'you, you' is kinda a pain in the ass. However, you're not really my teacher, that's still Kakashi-sensei's job, even if he is kinda dropping the ball on that one. Nee-chan is my family, but I only just met you so it'd be weird to call you like a brother. Just now I figured it out though, you're just like me. My senior who shares the same dream of becoming Hokage. That's why you're Obito-senpai!"

Rin clapped her hands together, whole body practically vibrating with some barely contained emotion.

"Wonderful!" She shouted, jumping up from her chair and running to give Naruto a hug. "You really do know how to say wonderful things sometimes, Naruto!" She continued to praise him, ignoring the fact he was now trying to escape.

"Nee-chan! Stop it! You're embarrassing me, y'know!" He shouted. Despite the fact that stuff he just went off about was way more embarrassing than what he was being subjected to now.

How stupid. Calling me his senior for something as trivial as having once shared the same dream. Nevermind that he thought it was something I was still capable of aiming for.

Again I found myself wanting to yell at him, telling him to not be so naïve. To tell Rin to stop encouraging his nonsense. Yet I couldn't also help but feel jealous. There was once a time I was able to shout out such things without a care in the world. And Rin would be there to tell me to do my best, Minato-sensei was there to walk that same path beside me, and even Kakashi was there to push me to better myself.

I may have been just as idiotic back then as Naruto is now, but at least I didn't hate myself the way I had come to.

If I could change anything, it would be that. I didn't need to reach for the mantle of Hokage again. But, and even if just a little-

I wanted to like myself a little more.