AN: Alright, so next chapter.
I went for a bit of a lighter tone this time around. After some rather dark moments in the past couple chapters, I thought it best to kind of balance things out a little. It also probably won't be long before things get more dark again, so I thought it would be good to have the contrast. Also the shortest chapter so far. They'll probably bounce back up in length after this one.
Obito
Chapter 5 - Comrades
"Good morning, Obito." Rin greeted me, opening the door to her apartment to let me in.
Unlike every previous time that I had come here, I was finally able to knock immediately upon arriving. None of that debating back and forth whether to go through with it or run away crap that had become customary. It wasn't a huge step by any means, and no one even knew about it but myself, but I was proud of the small growth all the same. Baby steps. Those were important right now.
"Morning, Rin." I returned her greeting, stepping inside and taking my sandals off. "Is everything okay after…?" I didn't finish the thought, but she no doubt knew what I was asking about. Although there was a lot to digest with what had happened last night.
Our former classmate, Gekko Hayate, was dead. Murdered by an unknown assailant. I was never really close to him and I don't believe Rin had been either, but he was still an ally of ours. One we used to go to school with everyday. A man we had trusted our backs to on the battlefield. For him to be done in while within the borders of our own home; it was almost like some kind of bad joke.
The problems didn't stop there. Rin, Naruto, and I had been witness to the Hidden Sand's Jinchuriki as he partially transformed, letting his Tailed Beast out; temporary though as it may have been. There was no telling how many others had seen it, but the more distressing possibility was if someone had seen us. We very well might have targets on our backs now, so we couldn't be too careful. Going by Rin's sullen manner at the moment, everything appeared fine and no problems had arisen yet, thankfully.
She smiled gently at me and nodded ever so briefly. "I finished the initial autopsy fairly quickly. It's as you probably suspected but a Futon Jutsu was what caused those wounds that killed him. I left the more detailed autopsy to the night staff so I could hurry up and bring Naruto home. Sorry if we missed you when you came back." I shook my head to her apology.
"It's fine. You did the right thing. How is Naruto?" I asked. He had been pretty shaken up when I left him. I was guessing he had gone into shock, but there was no real way for me to judge that on the little time I had spent with him. Rin was far more adept at diagnosing those types of things, which she had to be, considering her profession.
To my question Rin could only smirk. "See for yourself." She said. The two of us had walked into the kitchen as we were talking. Rin had prepared a mountain of food, possibly in an attempt to cheer Naruto up. Not that he looked to be in the need of any kind of boost. He was the same as always, inhaling anything and everything he could get his hands on. It didn't matter what it was, if it was within range of his grubby little hands it was getting shoveled into his mouth.
"Ah, Obito-senpai! G'morning!" At least, I'm pretty sure that was what he said. It was kind of hard to tell with all the food in his mouth as he talked. Now that he had taken notice of me, however, his hands paused and he finished swallowing the rest of his food before continuing. "Finally came around to apologize to me, huh?" This little brat.
I couldn't stop myself from chuckling awkwardly as I pulled out a chair and sat down opposite of him. It was a little cumbersome with the stack of food between us, but I wasn't looking to make the perfect apology anyways. "Yeah, sorry it took me so long to come around. Well, I'm sorry for a lot of things, but that too." I started to try and get the words out of my mouth, but Naruto suddenly held a hand up to cut me off.
"'I'mma go first, if that's okay?" He said, surprising me. "Thing is, Nee-chan told me a little about it last night… and I guess I realized you got a lot going on too, y'know." I shot Rin a look, but she only shrugged unapologetically. Part of me really wanted to know what exactly it was she told him, but most of me decided it was better I didn't know. So long as it got Naruto off my back, it was fine. "Anyways, you already told me you were sorry last night. After you saved my ass too. It's kinda embarrassing to admit but… I just completely froze up against that guy, y'know."
That was one thing no one could blame Naruto for. It must have been an incredible shock to him, meeting another Jinchuriki from a different village. One that was as unstable as Gaara appeared to be no less. I could only imagine how upsetting that kind of stuff must be, and on a day I'd upset him plenty enough already.
"It's fine." I assured him. "So you and I are good then?" It would be really easy on me if that was the case. I know he must also want to go back to training and I would admit it, I had kind of grown to enjoy watching over him as he improved too. Despite having been so reluctant to start training him at the start. Of course, I would never admit any of this out loud. It was way too embarrassing and I felt like I would lose some kind of game or bet if people found out I felt this way. Nevermind the fact that Rin almost definitely already knew.
"Well…" Naruto leaned back in his chair, placing both hands behind his head. "I wouldn't go so far as to say you and I are good, y'know." Figures it wouldn't be that easy. At least, that's what I thought until the next thing Naruto said. "Tell you what, you teach me that huge Katon Jutsu you used to fend off the sand monster and I'll let you off the hook, deal?"
I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud. Perhaps the hardest I had in a long time.
"W-what!? You got a problem?" Naruto jumped to his feet, slamming his hands on the table. It looked like he was legitimately angry for several seconds, but even he couldn't keep it up in the face of my continuous laughter. Before long even he started giggling, although a little more awkwardly.
"I'll tell you what, Naruto…" I said, finally managing to calm down at least a little. "You ever master the ability to distort reality by opening a portal to an alternate dimension, you let me know. Then I'll teach you that Jutsu I used last night." Short of that, I don't think he or anyone else for that matter was going to be learning that jutsu I had personally created. Maybe Kakashi could do it, but he was about it.
"Is- Is that a yes...?" The sarcasm of my comment flew completely over Naruto's head. Although I shouldn't have been surprised. This time even Rin couldn't help but giggle at her adopted son.
"It's more of a 'someday' kind of answer, really." I said. You never know, Naruto had the strongest of all the Tailed Beasts sealed inside of him. Who knew what kind of crazy things he might be capable of one day in the future. Never say never. "For now, why don't you think of something else? I'll do my part to make it up to you, it just has to be within reason. I owe you that much, since yesterday was mostly my fault."
"Again with the 'mostly' crap, but alright." Naruto grumbled, but at least appeared to be partially satisfied as he sat back down. "Not like I got much choice, I need someone to train me… and I'll acknowledge it: You're strong, y'know. I've never seen Kakashi-sensei use a Jutsu nearly that powerful."
Well I would certainly hope not. Naruto didn't seem to realize it, but Jonin didn't simply throw around powerful Jutsu because we could. He and I had been in a pretty desperate situation last night, which is why I resorted to such measures. I had no doubt Kakashi had a Jutsu or a dozen of his own around that level. He was the famous Copy-Ninja who had stolen over a thousand Jutsu, after all.
"How about," Rin suggested. "The two of you forget about the training for today?" The look on Naruto's face immediately told us both what he thought of that idea, but she ignored him. "Yesterday was pretty taxing on all of us and I think we should decompress… So how about we go to one of the festivals being held in the village? There's all sorts of events in celebration of the exams so we should be able to find plenty to do to keep us busy. What do you say?" She looked at me.
"A festival…" I couldn't say I looked forward to the idea of being in crowds of people. I used to love going to them as a kid, but I didn't really like the attention my scarred face got when we were in crowds of mostly civilians. Even so, I had to try and change it up at least a little. No, less of a change and more of going back to how I used to be. "I suppose that might be a good idea."
Naruto suddenly started snickering, a huge shit-eating grin covering his face from ear to ear. "I just thought of how Obito-senpai can pay me back." I had the terrible feeling in my gut that I wasn't about to like where this is going. "You have to pay for all my snacks at the festival today, y'know. And no limit this time, Nee-chan! It's his punishment."
"Geez…" Rin rolled her eyes but nodded and then flashed me an apologetic grin. "Sorry Obito, but… do your best today, okay?" She held up both fists as if to cheer me on.
"He can't possibly eat that much after going through all of this…" I looked down at the mountain of food Naruto had already half-cleared. If he could keep going after eating all of this, he wasn't human. I then also remembered he did have a monster fox in his stomach. It wasn't possible that thing helped him eat...
"...Right?"
I was wrong.
So, so, very wrong about how much Naruto was capable of eating. And now my poor wallet was the one paying the price.
Takoyaki, taiyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu, toriniku, gyoza, mochi dango, fucking pie; there was no limit to the number of different assortments of snacks and food being served up at the various stalls.
And Naruto needed to have all of it. It didn't matter if he wasn't finished with the thing I had only just bought for him, the moment he saw something else he wanted and he just added that to the growing pile in his arms. When it got to the point he couldn't carry anymore while eating at the same time then Rin and I were left to pick up everything else.
"Delicious!" Naruto exclaimed, biting down on like three different types of meat skewered on sticks at once. I don't even think he knew what was going in his mouth anymore. "So good! Nee-chan, you have to try this!" He extended one of the half-eaten sticks in Rin's general direction. The two of us walked behind him, arms already full of his food. Which we were absolutely forbidden under any circumstances to eat unless he offered something to us directly.
"Thank you, Naruto." Rin leaned forward, unable to grab the stick herself and so just took a bite of it directly from Naruto's hand. Her eyes immediately lit up upon getting a taste. "You're right, it is good!" As you may have guessed by now, I hadn't been offered a single bite of anything yet.
Vindictive little twerp.
Not that I could say I didn't deserve it, which is why I was content to silently put up with it until now. Just went to show that despite his rather flowery words this morning the kid did hold a grudge; I just hoped that with this we would finally be square.
"Ooh! What's that!?" Naruto suddenly took off, something else having caught his eye deep among the crowds of people. We couldn't possibly chase after him and so the two of us were temporarily left behind. Although I had no doubt he would return soon. If it turned out to be something he wanted then he was going to need my money after all.
The three of us must have made quite the image. Rin and I with our arms packed full of food and Naruto adding more and more to the piles. It certainly garnered a lot of attention, and yet for the first time in a long while I found I didn't mind so much. The thing was, this wasn't the typical negative attention I had gotten used to. Instead of the horrified grimaces people made when they saw my face, or the sneers of contempt when they saw either Jinchuriki, people looked at us and smiled, some of them laughed even. It was… kinda nice. This feeling.
"Here, Obito." Rin whispered, leaning towards me as she held up a piece of taiyaki. "Quickly, while he's gone." Her hushed urgency caused me to chuckle. I hate to think of what punishment was in store for us if we got caught, but there was no time to think about it. Ordinarily I might have resisted the urge to eat anything, but the cacophony of delicious smells was too much, so screw it.
I didn't even care how awkward it was to even successfully take the Taiyaki from her. She couldn't exactly hold it very high with her arms full the way they were and I couldn't get a hand free to take anything. So I just had to lean over, taking a bite of it at a time right out of Rin's hand. "Damn good!" I couldn't help but praise, savoring the delicious custard filling inside.
It wasn't just the taste that made this the best damn taiyaki I ever had in my life. For starters it had been forever since I had one. Then being subjected to all these delicious smells that I was forbidden from eating made the taboo of it taste all the more better. Let's not even talk about the fact that Rin was literally hand-feeding it to me. I could die and crumble into a thousand tiny pieces right now and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't mind.
"Nee-chan! Obito-senpai!" I finished just in time too, Naruto calling out to us as Rin crumpled the wrapper up and hid it amidst the pile so he wouldn't notice. "This way, this way! Hurry! I found Sakura-chan!" It would appear it hadn't been more food he had seen in the crowd, but rather an acquaintance of his.
"Sakura-chan, as in his teammate, Haruno Sakura?" I asked, looking over to Rin as the two of us followed after him. I had done a bit of my research when it was decided I would take on his training, so I knew at least enough about his team and mission accomplishments. Although I had yet to meet the last member that comprised the Kakashi-led Squad Seven.
"That's the one." Rin nodded, making a somewhat complicated expression. Before I could ask her what it was, she leaned a little closer again to whisper, "Naruto has got kind of a thing for her. So no matter what you hear… just kinda play along, okay?" Just what exactly was it that she thought I was going to hear? I didn't get to ask, because we had caught up to Naruto and he was already pulling us along, the increased speed threatening to send all his food flying to the streets.
"Sakura-chan~!" Yet it would seem Naruto didn't care about his food anymore. The food I paid for, mind you. Instead he was too busy trying to flag his teammate down. I almost wondered how he found her in this thicket of people in the first place before her conspicuous pink hair also caught my eye.
Sakura's head perked up at hearing her name called, and she started scanning the crowd. Next to her was some blonde girl that looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't say I recognized her. She was the one who spotted us first, tugging at Sakura's arm and pointing to us as we approached. Watching the barrage of emotions clearly flash across her face was almost comical, if not a little worrying that a Kunoichi would wear her thoughts so visibly as she did.
While looking for us, she had been curious as to who would be calling out for her, but not just that. It was also… hopeful. As if she had been waiting for someone in particular. The moment her eyes fell on the familiar characteristics of Naruto however, her face filled with… disgust? It certainly looked that way, but it was quickly replaced by just standard disappointment. This wasn't much better, but compared to that brief second before and it was a definite step in the right direction. After that though followed concern and anger.
She took a step towards Naruto just as he was nearly upon her. An instant before it happened, I knew what was about to occur. Because I had seen that same look and stance in Naruto's mother before she did the exact same thing. "Sakura-cha-" Naruto never got any farther than that, a fist drilling into his cheek and sending him flying. Along with all the food he had been holding which went splashing into the crowds. So much for all my hard-earned money.
"You idiot! I've been trying to contact you for over a week now! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!" Well, at least that punch had been one out of concern for her teammate. That kind of made it okay… I guess? Seemed counterproductive to me, but who was I to judge? I was still more devastated about all the snacks I had bought. Festival food wasn't cheap dammit!
"Wa-wait! Sakura-chan, calm down for a second, y'know!" Naruto was scooting backwards, still prone on the street pavement. Sakura meanwhile continued to stalk towards him, looking like she might slug him again.
"You want me to calm down after you, Kakashi-sensei, and Sasuke-kun all just up and disappeared?! Not a single one of you told me where you were going!" Sakura bent down and grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket, hoisting him back to his feet. Unexpectedly strong, considering her stature. "I had to ask your sister at the hospital and she said you were going on some training trip!"
Uh… What? I turned to Rin who was suddenly not willing to meet my eyeline, or Naruto's for that matter. I was kind of starting to see what was going on here, however. Naruto was her adoptive son, after all. It makes sense she might not take too kindly to the first girl he ended up developing a crush on, especially one as violent as Sakura appeared. Damn it, Naruto. Why did you have to pick someone so much like your mother?
I also understood that this was what Rin meant when she was asking me to play along. She must have lied to Sakura about where Naruto was going to be so she wouldn't come checking at their home for him. Now I was the one who was going to have to end up authenticating that story.
Not seeing much choice now, I sighed and walked up to the two of them as I resigned myself to doing what needed to be done. "Y-Yo…!" I called out to them. Sakura whirled on me, nose still flaring and eyes drilling into my head as if asking who would dare interrupt her in the middle of her tirade. Of course, that angry look disappeared immediately the second she got a good look at my face.
"Sorry about this." I said. "It would appear I've caused some kind of misunderstanding. I'm Uchiha Obito. Kakashi's former teammate. He asked me to train Naruto for the exams. So for all the worry, I apologize." I inclined my head. It would seem I had been apologizing for a lot of things lately. Although I'm pretty sure this one wasn't actually my fault.
"...Uchiha?" Sakura whispered under her breath. When I looked back up she quickly shook it off, probably hoping I didn't hear her. "Ah, no! What I meant to say is- My name is Haruno Sakura. Thank you for looking after Naruto!" She dropped her teammate who crumpled to a heap on the floor, bowing to me at a near ninety degree angle. "I'm sure he's caused you all kinds of problems, but please continue to take care of him."
Now I see. Her words were certainly proper and she acted docile in front of adults. This wasn't her true personality, however. No, when she slugged Naruto just now was far closer to her typical self than this suddenly picturesque girl in front of me was. No wonder Rin couldn't stand her. I don't think there was anything that pissed her off more than people who hid things, nevermind to the degree in which Sakura hid her entire self behind this charade. All the same, that wasn't my problem and I wasn't looking to make waves here.
So I just smiled and nodded back. "Same here. Please continue to care for Naruto as a teammate. He's lucky to have someone that cares for him as much as you do." As I finished speaking, Sakura stood back up straight and smiled sweetly at me, clearly buying into my words as I had also appeared to have bought into hers. With the pleasantries out of the way, Sakura seemed to have other thoughts now.
"Umm…" There was a sudden blush on her face, eyes darting this way and that. It kind of reminded me of how all the girls used to act around Kakashi. "Since you're also an Uchiha and everything I was just wondering… do you happen to know where Sasuke is at the moment?" She ended up gazing at her feet as she finished her question. Meanwhile, Naruto sat cross-legged on the street, making a complicated expression back up at her. These kids really were just like we had been at that age. So much so it physically hurt to look at them.
"...For his own safety, even I don't know where he is right now." I paused, debating how much more to tell her. For all her faults, she seemed like a smart girl. I had read her report on the encounter with Orochimaru and the Sound's Genin as well, so she wasn't completely out of the loop either. Even so, for her own sake, it was best to just keep things simple and put her mind at ease. "You have nothing to worry about. Kakashi is with him. There's no one better that can keep Sasuke safe." I smiled at both her and Naruto. I know he had been worried this whole time too, so my words had been to reassure them both.
"Well that's a bummer." The blonde girl Sakura had been with said as she took her place next to her friend. "Here I was finally hoping we would get some good info on where Sasuke-kun is." It would appear like his brother before him and Kakashi during our time, Sasuke was the object of many a woman's affection.
The girl then smiled at me, bowing as Sakura just had before. "My name is Yamanaka Ino. I'm on Squad Ten under Sarutobi Asuma-sensei. Pleased to meet you." I returned the greeting, now knowing why she seemed familiar as a member of the famed Yamanaka clan. The heiress no less. Naruto's class appeared to be full of all kinds of talented individuals.
"Looks like you've gotten introduced to everyone then, Obito." Rin walked up next to me and inclined her head to the two girls as well. "Good to see you again, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan." She greeted the girls who only just now noticed she was here as well. After that she smiled at me gently, eyes thanking me for having covered for her story just now. I returned the smile back, just happy to be of use to her for once.
"How sweet," Ino said, looking back and forth between Naruto and us. "Naruto, you've never introduced us to your sister's boyfriend. How come you never mentioned your other guardian was an Uchiha?"
"Hmm, boyfriend?" Naruto asked, looking confused as he finally stood up, dusting the dirt from his pants. He then looked up at my quickly reddening face. Then at Rin. Then back at me, before suddenly laughing. "No, no, no! Obito-senpai and Nee-chan aren't like that, y'know!"
"That so?" Even Sakura looked like she wasn't quite convinced, looking at all the food Rin and I held suspiciously, as if it was somehow proof of anything. "You do have to admit, the three of you kind of look like a family all together like this. I might have even believed they were your birth parents if I didn't know you."
"That's enough of that." I finally blurted out, not able to take it anymore. Seriously, these kids were going to give me a heart attack if they kept saying things like that. Rin wasn't helping, just standing there and giggling next to me, like she was enjoying some inside joke. "Naruto, why don't you share some of this with Sakura-san and Ino-san." I dumped all the snacks I was holding into Naruto's still empty arms. He took it without complaint, but neither girl seemed like they wanted any of it.
Fortunately for me, Ino already seemed interested in something else as her eyes landed on someone in the crowd. "Speaking of juicy dating details…" She smirked, standing on her toes and raising a hand over her head to be more easily seen. "Asuma-sensei! Kurenai-sensei! Over here!" It would appear our little gathering was about to increase in number again.
This time it was two more former classmates of mine that approached us. Sarutobi Asuma, one of the sons of the Third Hokage himself and Yuhi Kurenai. Both of them had a student that would be fighting in the finals. It was Ino that had called them over, but as they approached the first thing they seemed to notice was me.
"Oh, Obito!" Asuma grinned at me, extending a hand for me to shake. "I didn't know you were back. You should have said something."
"Obito-kun." Kurenai greeted at the same time, inclining her head. "It's good to see you."
"Likewise, you two." I grinned apologetically at them, but before I could say anything more on it Ino butted back in.
"What the heck, you all already know each other? How boring…" She lamented, probably just disappointed she hadn't been able to get any kind of juicy drama out of the situation. Just because I wasn't able to provide her with any additional ammo didn't mean there wasn't any to be found, however, as she grinned at the two newcomers. "So what's this, Asuma-sensei… you should have told me if you were dating Kurenai-sensei. I would have recommended some flowers."
"Wha- no! It's not like that!" Asuma quickly tried to refute her, cheeks tinting red. Finally it wasn't just me at the end of these kinds of jokes. Although it was kind of looking like there was some tinge of truth to this one, even Kurenai blushing and looking away from everyone.
"Eh~! No way, Sensei! Don't be like that, you'll make Kurenai-sensei sad!" Ino's grin reminded me of the same one Jiraiya always made. "You and Obito-san should be more happy! Having two beautiful ladies to take on dates. Hey Sensei, why don't you bring Obito-san to my family's shop some time, I'll pick out the perfect bouquet for both of you!" Figures I wasn't going to get out of this for long.
"I need a drink." Asuma grumbled, making eye-contact with me out of the corner of his eye. He nodded his head towards a stall not far from us and I was quick to nod back. No time like the present to run away.
"You want anything, Rin?" I asked, but she shook her head. Kurenai was already helping her take some of the snacks I had bought earlier and the two of them were splitting a boat of takoyaki now.
"Kurenai-chan and I are going to catch up. You boys have fun. We'll be here when you get back." Rin smiled at me, before turning her attention back to Kurenai. The two of them were already giggling about something, but I had no interest in finding out about what.
"Boo! Don't run away!" Ino shouted after Asuma and I as we quickly did just that and made our retreat. Too bad it didn't look like she was going anywhere either; her, Sakura, and Naruto also gathered around Rin and Kurenai. I almost felt bad leaving Naruto with all the women, but he didn't seem to mind. I think he was just happy to be with his crush, Sakura.
"Sorry about that, she's a handful." Asuma started as we reached the stall. He ordered a can of beer and grabbed two plastic cups. Splitting the can between us, we knocked our cups together before taking a sip.
"No worries," I said, shaking my head to his apology. "I've been looking after Naruto in place of Kakashi for this past week… so I know a thing or two about handfuls myself." To make no mention of how much of a handful I had been as a kid.
"Yeah? That so?" Asuma asked, seemingly surprised by the news. "No wonder you didn't have time to let anyone know you were back." He took another sip of his cup, the two of us now leaning against the side of the stall and looking back at the group we had just temporarily left. "I probably don't need to tell you then that my own team's Shikamaru will be fighting in the tournament."
I nodded to the question. If things went well enough in their first fights, Naruto and Shikamaru would be up against each other in the second round of the tournament. It was entirely possible our two students would end up duking it out. Although things like who won or lost were ultimately irrelevant in the Chunin Exams, as your promotion was only based on performance, there was certainly a sense of competitive spirit that tournaments always seemed to invoke in people. I wasn't immune to such things myself, and I had only been invested in Naruto for a week so far.
"Must be nice to have a kid actually excited to get in there and prove himself." Asuma sighed, pulling out a box of cigarettes. He offered me a stick but I shook my head, settling for just the beer for the time being. "That punk Shikamaru is so lazy… I wouldn't be surprised if he just ends up looking for the first chance to forfeit." I couldn't help but chuckle, remembering how Naruto had said something similar about his former classmate.
"Well, Naruto and I have our own problems." I admitted, taking another sip as I remembered our fight yesterday. "It certainly isn't easy being a teacher, I'm realizing. I have respect for all of you who actually volunteered to do it. Taking on Genin teams and everything. I don't know if I could handle three of them. Naruto by himself is plenty." To this, Asuma could only laugh.
"Man, you said it." He agreed. "I have no idea what I was thinking." After that a brief, but comfortable silence settled between us. It didn't last long as Asuma suddenly nudged me in the shoulder, making a face similar to the one his student had just been making earlier. "So give me the details. You and Rin finally hooked up or what? You've been pining after her for years." He just had to wait until I was taking another sip of my cup to ask this, the sudden topic change causing me to choke on my beer and send me into a fit of coughs.
"Why do I have to keep telling people we're not like that!?" I shouted at him, but he only laughed. "Look, I gave up on Rin a long time ago, okay? After she started dating Kakashi."
"Seriously man?" Asuma seemed genuinely surprised by this news. "You know those two only dated for like, what? Not even a year? It was so long ago I barely even remember. There was no real chemistry there and they both figured it out pretty quickly. That was your chance… although I don't think it's gone yet. Not many guys go looking to date a Jinchuriki or a single-mother. You have literally no competition."
"It's complicated, alright." I really couldn't tell him anything more than that. The reasons I shouldn't go out with Rin were long enough as it was, but that all just didn't mean anything in the face of one simple truth: Rin didn't see me that way. She never had. I was just her childhood friend and I think it was impossible for her to see me as anything more than that. Certainly, I used to misread the signs it felt like she was giving out when we were younger as romantic interest, but I knew enough now as an adult that it was just how Rin was.
To this Asuma just shrugged. "Your loss. But seriously, you need to get some experience with women or something or you're always going to end up like this." I really didn't want to hear that from him, after he got all flustered when his own student called him out for being on his own date. Before I could tell him just that, however, a large arm draped over either of our shoulders and Jiraiya's head popped up between us.
"Thank you, Asuma! I've been trying to tell him that this whole time!" My Master lamented with a booming voice. "Maybe he'll finally listen, hearing it from someone his own age."
"Jiraiya-sama!" Asuma dropped his cigarette in surprise, having barely gotten to take more than a couple inhales of it. "I guess I should have figured with Obito back that you would be too…" He looked down sadly at his fallen cigarette, as if mourning a lost brother.
"I don't suppose you came to drink with us, Master?" I asked him, holding up the now mostly empty plastic cup. "Or maybe…?" My one eye turned over to Naruto. None of them seemed to realize Jiraiya was here yet, but only Kurenai and Rin were likely to recognize him anyways. Jiraiya wasn't exactly in the village much so it seemed highly unlikely any of the younger generation would realize who he was at a glance. Although they no doubt had heard of him.
This extended to even Naruto. Despite the fact that Minato-sensei had named Jiraiya his god-father. Naruto's own name came from the main character of Jiraiya's first published book. Yet despite that, they had never met. I never questioned my master on this fact, because honestly I understood even without needing to be told. He was surely facing his own kinds of guilt, in the same way I was.
"No, no." Jiraiya shook his head, tone turning rarely serious. "I actually came because I have a favor to ask you, Obito." As he said that, Asuma seemed to realize the possible secretive nature of any kind of talk between my master and I, so he excused himself to rejoin the others. As he joined them, Rin took notice of Jiraiya. She shifted her position slightly, just enough to keep Naruto from accidentally glancing this way and seeing us together.
"You really should listen to Asuma, don't you think?" Jiraiya grinned at me, also staring at Rin. "She's grown into a fine woman. You'd be an even bigger idiot than I thought you were not to try and make another move on that."
"Get to the point, Master." I growled at him, not looking to rehash this conversation yet again.
"Alright, alright, geez." Jiraiya held up his hands as if to ward off a wild animal. "You were more fun drunk the other night, you know that?" I didn't bother to inform him that was generally true with most people, instead staring at him until he would finally get serious again. "Speaking of the other night, I think I finally found a lead on the red-haired man you saw."
"You did!?" I couldn't even mask my own surprise. I had given Jiraiya almost nothing to go on other than he had red hair and an intimidating presence. Yet with just that he had been able to get a lead on him? It just went to show, when my Master got serious he could really do some amazing things.
"Here's the thing though… he's a powerful adversary. One I'm hoping I don't have to fight… but if it comes down to it, there's no guarantee things go well for me." Wait, what was my master saying? He was going to go take this guy on? But why? I had so many questions, but I also learned a long time ago, if Jiraiya wanted you to know, he would tell you. "Well, I don't expect to get done in or anything, so don't worry about that." He must have noticed my concern, suddenly bursting into laughter to calm me even a little.
That laughter ended almost as quickly as it began. "So here's the deal. I might be gone for a while. So in my absence, I need you to hold onto something for me. Can I count on you to do that?" I nodded without thinking, but in hindsight I probably should have known better than to do that because a moment later, "Great! Come on out Gerotora!" The toad that contained the key to Naruto's seal came flying out from behind my Master's back.
"I still don't agree with this, but it can't be helped." Gerotora said, looking me up and down. Of course, the two of us had met before and I had even put my fingerprints on his seal, but this? If something ever went wrong with Naruto's seal, Gerotora here was the only sure-fire way to fix it. It would enable even an amatuer like me to do something about it if I had him in hand. That's because right now, despite his body being compact, he could elongate and unroll his stomach into a scroll. Minato-sensei himself placed this key onto that scroll. To now entrust it to me in case of an emergency?
"I also don't think this is such a good idea…" I said, trying to take a couple steps away from Jiraiya and Gerotora while I still could. Thing is, to store Gerotora for use, there was only one method… and that was, well: You had to swallow him. Especially seeing as I was forbidden from a Toad contract, this was the only way to ensure I could utilize him if it became a necessity.
"Now, now, don't be like that, Obito." Jiraiya grinned at me, but it wasn't a comforting sight. "I hear you and Naruto have been getting along pretty well lately. Even had your first fight and already made up the day after." He really did hear everything that went on, somehow. Part of me wondered if he hadn't planted some tadpoles on me or something.
"No, really. I'm going to pass." I took a couple steps further back. To this, my master could only sigh.
"Well, can't be helped." For a moment I was foolish enough to believe that meant he was going to let me off the hook. That hope disappeared when his smile returned twice as large as before. "I was going to do this the easy way but you leave me no choice. That's okay, this is a festival after all, no better place for a show."
"Wait, what do you-" There was no further time for questioning then that, two loud pops and smoke appearing on either side of me. From the smoke two adult-human-sized toads appeared. A direct result of Jiraiya's summoning jutsu, but I didn't even see him prepare the Jutsu. The loud noise and smoke from their arrival immediately drew a crowd, surrounding my Master and me in a large semi-circle.
"Ladies and gentleman!" Jiraiya had slipped on a pair of fake glasses with a moustache attached to them in the split second I was distracted by the toads, not bothering to do anything more than that to hide his appearance. "Watch closely now and be amazed. My lanky assistant is about to consume a whole toad… alive and kicking!" Several gasps and wretches of disgust followed this proclamation, but he had their attention nonetheless.
Not just unknown bypassers, but the entire group I had been with was watching now too. Rin waved at me, winking as if telling me to do my best. So none of them were coming to save me it would seem.
"Now then lad, open wide!" Jiraiya walked around behind me, grabbing my jaw and pulling at my forehead to force my mouth open.
"Here I come!" Gerotora didn't even give me a chance to do anything, flying into my mouth the moment it was open. I thought about using my jutsu to escape, but with this many people watching the risk was too high. Very few people in the world knew about the power of my Mangekyo Sharingan and I would like to keep it that way.
So I could do nothing but suffer through the next several agonizing seconds as Gerotora forced his way inside, struggling, kicking, and squirming the whole way. The feeling was indescribable, having a living creature bigger than your head and covered in slime force its way down your throat. And it was something I never hoped I would have to do a second time in my life. Finally it did end, leaving me gagging and coughing, collapsing to all fours in the process. I could also feel the chakra from the key synchronizing with my own, a brief sign of the seal appearing monetarily on my arm before disappearing.
"Tada!" Jiraiya yelled and a round of applause broke out. Very confused applause, but applause nonetheless. People began to filter out, and the giant toads on either side of me vanished in a poof of smoke. Along with my master. Just like that and he was gone, on his way to possibly fight a dangerous foe. Was this really how he wanted us to part ways?
"Nice trick, Obito-senpai!" Naruto ran up to me, still clapping and laughing at my expense. "I don't really get it, and it was pretty weird, but that was really funny. I didn't know you did comedy stuff!" Neither did I until just now.
"You alright there?" Asuma extended a hand to help me to my feet and I took it. "You don't gotta like, throw it up or anything later, do ya?" To the question I merely shook my head, still not trusting my voice to work after having a toad slide down my gullet.
"Where did that guy you were with go?" Sakura was looking around, but she would find no sign of Jiraiya now. "He seemed kind of familiar but…" Apparently just contact with one of the Sannin was enough to give her a kind of sense for them. While it was true the general presence of Jiraiya and Orochimaru was vastly different, there was no denying they both gave off a similar aura in a sense.
"Well, let's not worry about that and continue to enjoy the festival, okay?" Kurenai quickly changed the subject, likely one of the few people to see through Jiraiya's disguise.
"What, you okay letting us tag along on your date?" Ino apparently hadn't let up on that, and it would appear it still didn't embarrass the pair any less. Even so, the entire group was beginning to set out. So it looked like what had once started as just the three of us, had turned into a rather large group.
"Here, Obito." Rin wrapped an arm through mine, smiling up at me. "I'll help you walk for a bit, okay?" Fortunately for us, we were behind the rest of them now so no one could see the way in which she had just casually done that. Even if they weren't looking though, I couldn't help the way my own eye lingered on Rin a little longer than normal.
Everyone's teasing and jokes kept circling in my head and I found my eye glancing to Rin's pink kimono in particular. It was something she always wore, yet it was oddly appropriate for the festival at the same time. "What?" She asked, noticing my long stare.
I finally averted my eye, glancing back at those ahead of us as we made to follow them. "Nothing," I mumbled. "Thanks, is all." I couldn't deny this feeling welling up inside of me. The feeling that this was really nice.
Was this what I could have had if I had remained in the Leaf all this time? Rin walking by my side. Friends like Asuma and Kurenai to hang out with and drink beer. A younger generation to teach and have follow behind me like Naruto, Sakura, and Ino. Were these all things I had thrown away until now because I was running away? It all seemed so foreign to me now.
Yet here I was. Little by little reclaiming myself.
