Disclaimer: Kishimoto sensei, If it doesn't hurt that much, you could give me the rights to the series... No?.. Ok.
This chapter will mark the beginning of the ObiNaru ship that this fanfiction offers. But don't get too excited... the development will be slow and will only truly happen when lot of pivotal character arcs are over. So yeah...
There was a question asked by a user that I'm sure a quite a bit of you are tempting to ask as well.
Azaira: Yes, it is different, I know the bloodline purges are started by Obito to exact his revenge on Kiri. I've stated in the same chapter that I'm going to change that into the real Madara doing it for reasons I will reveal later. This fanfiction will have some changes from canon which you will find out as this goes on.
Chapter 3: Chained Together Birds
Sometimes morning sleep can be so comfy.
It was 5:00 am in the morning, and Naruto was having a great time. She is... kinda awake. But she is enjoying rolling and squirming under the blanket at the cold state right now. She was having a dream of bathing in a ramen pool. It couldn't get any better. Until-
"CRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAA..."
Naruto fluttered her eyes open cringing. She loved toads. She absolutely adored those little fellas. But god did she hate that Toad themed alarm clock Jiraiya gifted her. It just had such an awful voice. Imagine waking up everyday hearing this shit. Whatever, She brushed off those thoughts and jumped out of her bed.
Today is the day of graduation. She trained relentlessly for the past week. She was really pushing herself too much but she needed to get stronger, way stronger if she needed to make a difference this time. The Third shinobi world war is on the doorstep and could come in knocking open the front door any day, she must improve all of her stats.
She went on the her wardrobe and picked the necessary clothes. She put on black and white leggings, Orange yoga shirt and blue shinobi sandals. All of her hair was pulled back into one large spiky ponytail. She all also put on red cotton wristbands. She took a deep breath and went on outside.
She was standing on top of the Hokage monument on Hiruzen's head. She looked at the sight behold. Honestly, while morning mist barely settled, and the sun barely rising, Konoha looked really beautiful. God, she missed this. It was such a happy sight. She took a long breath inhaling the cold and fresh natural air and let it out calmly.
Alright, She's in the right mood. She's planned what she's going to do. Not full day workouts like the entirety of last week but still a formidable morning warmup. She took meditation to keep her mind calm.
"Let's begin."
With that said, Naruto leapt of Hiruzen's head and started to descent. It was like skydiving. When she stopped soaring and landed on top of a building, she immediately sprinted through rooftops. For someone else watching, it'd look like a orange bullet was fired at supersonic speed.
Naruto was running fast. She really enjoyed these running sessions. It really has a kick to it. She kept sprinting at breakneck speed and flipped through obstacle billboards and pipes like a master gymnastic.
While she was running through the rooftops, she got waves from other shinobi passing by. She waved back, it was good to build a decent image around.
In the way, she saw Teuchi about to open his shop.
"Hey!! Teuchi-san!!"
Teuchi looked and smiled brightly. "Good morning Naruto-chan!"
She grinned in jolly and continued sprinting. She might be being like Guy-sensei, but she won't stop until she took 100 laps around Konoha.
With that in mind, she started to run towards the outskirts of Konoha.
'Whoo... that was crazy...'
Naruto was now walking back home sweating. It was an Intense morning workout. She took 100 laps around Konoha, took 500 pushups on each hand, and all other crazy side exercises you can imagine.
She went into her home and took a nice cold shower. She doesn't understand why, but she loves bathing in cold water after getting sweaty. It's just soothing.
During bath Naruto realized one thing that she didn't want to remember. She will be turning eight years old at the end of this month. But she didn't feel like she should celebrate it. Not only is it because she didn't know that much people right now in Konoha, but this is the year her father died. She couldn't get over the last part.
'I mean, it's not like anyone cares.'
Brushing off the thought, Naruto went back to bathing. After what took like 20 minutes, she emerged from the bathroom dripping wet wrapped in a white towel.
"Ok, Cool bath done. Now need to make something healthy for breakfast."
Naruto was doing production in the workshop(Cooking in the kitchen). She was currently Wearing a white tank top with short sleeves and Black shorts.
She arranged her breakfast on her table. It consisted of Oatmeal and milk. But not the boring way you might think.
She made oatmeal by taking a bowl, pouring yoghurt and apple juice into it and mixing it really well, adding rolled oats and stirring it really well until it softens and rises up, and as toppings she dropped blackberries and roasted almonds. As for drinks, she had a large glass of milk.
She dropped her unhealthy breakfast ramen routine a long time ago. She needed to be at best condition this time around. So better not take any chances.
She arranged everything and sat down.
"There you go, A breakfast for champions!"
With that said, she began eating.
It was time.
Naruto began to dress up for her entering in the academy, as well as graduation test today.
She went out of her wardrobe and looked at the mirror to know how she looked.
She was wearing a black turtleneck slim soft full sleeve t-shirt, and Anbu style black pants. She had the bandage wrapped around her right thigh for the pouch. On top of her Shirt, she wore a grey Anbu style vest with the Uchiha fan symbol on the back. The vest hugged her figure quite well (Kind of like Yugao's). She wore white shinobi sandals and white fingerless leather gloves.
Her hair stayed mostly the same. Three bangs framing her face to the middle of the nose, two bangs in front of both ears, but the only difference is that her silky ponytail was even longer.
She confirmed to herself that she looked really good. Nowhere near as good as her orange jumpsuit.
'Let's be honest, that would have been near perfection.'
She confidently started marching off the house. She's gonna do this. She will graduate.
Obito's POV
"Today I'm gonna become a ninja, and gonna beat that Baka Kakashi finally. He has no Idea what the future Hokage, Obito Uchiha is made of!"
Obito was rambling on about his joy of becoming a genin finally. He can shine today, there is no Kakashi to rob his spotlight, Rin is there to watch him. Rin...
He has been trying relentlessly to win her heart since the time he met her. No matter what he does, she doesn't return his feelings. She looks like she isn't even aware of his crush that he has on her. But he's not gonna give up. Those two words are banned in his dictionary.
He arrived at the classroom to see for the first time in history, he was actually on time. He looked to see that everyone was looking at him like he grew a second head.
"Hey, guys look! Obito's on time!"
"Huh, whatever, that's not gonna change the fact that he's gonna suck like everytime."
Obito fumed at the kid who said this.
"Hey, watch who you diss you bastard! Or you're gonna regret it when I become Hokage!"
Most of the children began snickering at his proclaim. But Rin frowned at this.
"You becoming Hokage? Hah! you pass this test first, only then you can even become a ninja. Dead-last becoming Hokage, what a joke. Just quit and get out of here, loser."
Hearing that Kid's jab, Obito became a bit deflated. The whole class was laughing at him. He decided to go sit on his seat. The guy next to him frowned and rolled his eyes a bit. It's like he doesn't like Obito bothering him.
Obito felt so alone. Sure Rin was supportive of him. But she can only do that much. He wished there was a true friend that he can rely on, that he can share his pain with.
Obito looked back to see Rin waving at him and smiling.
It soothed his hurt feelings a bit. Sure, they aren't a romantic couple or anything but atleast she is nice to him. Plus, Obito still loved her. He's gonna win her heart someday, It's just a matter of time.
Obito sighed and put his head on the desk, waiting for his teacher to arrive.
Naruto was standing in front of the academy gates. The academy looked fairly the same she remembered in her time.
Without wasting thoughts she walked in to the academy knowing full well this is serious business about to start.
She reached the Staff room and looked to see there was only one teacher there. He was a pretty normal guy with glasses.
"Hello sir, I'm a student that was permitted to the graduation ceremony by the Hokage, If you can tell me where to go."
Usagi rushed through his files. "Oh, you must be Naruto Uchiha right?" She nodded
"Well, the class will start any minute. Come with me, please."
Naruto and Usagi started walking through the hallways to their classroom. Naruto still felt tremendous amount of nervousness surging through her veins. What if the classmates are meanies? What if they try to bully her?
'Well if they try to bully me, I'll kick the everliving shit out of those assholes. And besides I only have to spend one day with them. So I'll pass.'
Naruto brushed off her thoughts when she arrived at the door of the classroom. Usagi pushed open the door and both of them went to stand in front of the blackboard.
The entire classroom's attention fixed on those two, especially Naruto. Whispers began to echoe around the classroom.
"Hey, who's that new girl?"
"Is she a new student?"
"God, look at that stupid spiky hair."
"Is she even old as us?"
"Dunno, she is shorter than most of us in the class."
That last jab took a serious toll on Naruto. She is not short dammit!
Naruto ate a lot of healthy food this time around. She looked fit and has an above average height for her age. What? You can't expect to have a seven year old the same height as a nine year olds.
Despite, the obvious jerks and jealous bitch females, there is a vast portion of the class that thought Naruto looked pretty cool. Even Asuma was whispering snarky things about Naruto. Which earned him a swat from Kurenai everytime.
Naruto still put on a very distasteful frown on her face. She did not like most of the assholes in the class.
"Silence!" Usagi butted in to stop all the fuss. God he hated his students sometimes.
"Class, we have a new student that according to particular circumstances, will take the academy graduation today with you."
The students looked at Naruto. A recommendation able to skip the academy years completely? Wow, either she must be really strong or her political background must be large.
Obito was kind of annoyed. Why does some kids receive so much special treatment. He had to fail two exams prior and all of that and including this one as well required full attendance and study over years. And now here comes some girl that can skip her years completely? Why?
Usagi continued, "Why don't you introduce yourself?"
Naruto nodded. She realized being nice and bubbly won't matter shit here. She didn't like any of the members. So she decided there is no shame in being a little bit mean. She thought she could take some inspiration from Sasuke. "Like, How?"
"You know, your name, likes and dislikes and all that stuff."
Naruto prepared.
"My name is Naruto Uchiha, I'm seven years old. My likes... I like a lot of things but I don't feel like sharing it here. I dislike jerks who judges people by first glance."
The whole class fell in silence. Especially after hearing her clan name. Yeah, there is a loser Uchiha sitting couple of benches away but this girl looks like serious business. They needed to speak to her carefully by the the angry look on her face.
Obito was fuming. 'How arrogant... And an from the Uchiha clan nonetheless.' Obito hated his clan with a passion. Always stuck up assholes that looked down upon everyone else. And they were given special treatment above the weak always. He decided to protest against it.
"Usagi-sensei! Why is she here with us? We we are strong because we trained here for years. She didn't even attend any classes. She is even two years younger than us!!"
Usagi decided to snap back, "I told you she was given permission to enter due to certain circumstances. She would not have entered here if she wasn't already evaluated good enough for the Ninja programme. And age does not matter as there have been multiple students especially ones like Kakashi who graduated at six. So quit the charade and sit down Obito!"
Naruto suppressed her surprise as much as she can. It's the kid with the goggles! And... OBITO??!!
That's Obito? She was not expecting the psychopathic murderer of her time could be this... Playful looking?
"Naruto, please take a seat." Usagi went on arranging papers.
Naruto walked up to find a seat. She could see that almost all seats were occupied. All except for one.
"Hey Goggles, would you mind me sitting here?" Naruto asked wryly.
Obito looked up to see the girl he already hated is asking to sit next to him. And did she just call him Goggles?!
She reminded him of Kakashi. Stuck up jerks who have no self preservation or care for other's feelings. But to prevent a scene from happening, He reluctantly nodded, "Yes".
Naruto took the seat and listened intently to the lecture the teacher was giving. She was obviously bored, Iruka sensei's lectures were boring enough, but atleast he can be funny sometimes. But this glassed teacher is the most boring vanilla dude she ever encountered.
Decided to focus on something else, she secretly glanced to Obito.
Should she kill him?
All it'd take is plunge a kunai into his skull and none of it will happen.
But could she bring herself to do it?
To someone who currently is not on the path of darkness.
He looked half asleep. She could see his eyes drooping, he looked like a cute bored puppy.
How is he like this time around?
Her thoughts were cut short when the question papers started appearing on the desk of each student. She could already hear a groan from Obito muttering something about stupid written tests. Not gonna lie, she hated them too.
Half an hour passed by, and it was time to return all of the answer sheets for evaluation. Naruto was a bit hesitant because, let's be honest Naruto was still not that good at academics.
She'd done above average. But nothing special. She will make it up in the practical sessions though.
"All right now class, time for bukijutsu test. Everyone come outside and line up at the training posts".
Everyone in the class rushed outside as their instructor said.
Obito was standing with Rin, trying to be a sweet boy to set the stage for his showings later. Rin was enjoying his presence. But everyone seeing it knows that no matter what Obito does she's not gonna fall for him. It's pretty common knowledge with the boys of the class that Rin has a huge crush on Kakashi Hatake.The only one who doesn't realize that is, well, Obito.
"Really? Kakashi Hatake? Are girls really that head over heels for him? And if it's really that commonly widespread why doesn't that Obito guy not realizing that?" Naruto asked with curiosity. Apparently his former sensei had fangirls. Who would have guessed?
Genma chuckled at that. "Actually that is a huge head-scratcher for everyone in the class. It's so obvious that she doesn't feel for him that way. Hell, I've swooned over a lot of girls and when I felt like they won't fall for me, I just quit. Honestly I feel sad for that guy. I really don't wanna know what his mental state will be when he finds out the truth".
Naruto too didn't want to imagine that.
Sigh
Naruto glanced at the duo. It was pretty obvious as to why Obito likes her so much. While the rest of the class, and his clan treat him like a piece of garbage, when the whole world sees him as a Dead-last idiot, she was there to encourage him, to be a nice friend.
It's like finding a glass of water in a scorching desert. Obito's only source of care.
It reminded her a lot of Hinata. At her timeline, because of her status as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, every villager would sneer or throw aggressive fits at her. She was so lonely.
Sakura and Ino used to bully her. Which is so ironic actually. Ino always says she saved Sakura from bullies and hates bullies, then proceeds to... well, bully Naruto. For literally no reason other than the fact that Sakura's parents told her she was a bad monster.
Even Shikamaru and Chouji had the same impression on her. Granted, they did change their minds after sometime but still. It did hurt.
She tried her level best to avoid them as much as possible. But no, one way or another they would find their ways back to her finally.
The only one who wasn't like that to her was Hinata. She wanted to become friends with her and she knew better than anyone, what kind of person Naruto was. They were so inseparable. Naruto swore if she were a boy, Hinata would have been her wifey.
To their dismay, the girls in their peers dubbed them 'The Honker-twins'. Because at their age group, Naruto and Hinata had the biggest boobs among the girls. And the fact that they hung out together all the time earned them their nickname.
She did befriend all her childhood enemies growing up but still, Hinata would always remain as her No:1 Best friend. 'Damn I miss my Hina-chan'.
Rin is one of the biggest reasons why Obito turned evil and started the Fourth great ninja war.
Which may sound stupid to some, I mean starting a war to end the world just because he got upset that he couldn't get to put his dick inside of her will not sound reasonable to some. But Naruto knows better. She is one hundred percent sure that if she didn't have Hinata, Iruka, and Jiraiya in her life, she would have ended up just like Obito.
He's such an Innocent kid. Naruto now feels disgusted in herself for even thinking of killing this sweet boy. What she saw in the war was not Obito. It was a shell of his former self. This one right here was a reflection of what she was in her past.
She's decided to save him this time. Hope he takes Rin's actual feelings towards him well.
"Next, Naruto Uchiha".
She came out of her stupor when her name was called. Walking up to the center, she prepared for the test.
There were Five target boards. In her given holster, there are ten shurikens, and ten kunai.
Deciding to end this quick, Naruto took all the shuriken in the set in both hands and threw them all at once. All of them hit the bullseye. She did the same with the Kunai and it also hit the mark magnificently.
The Instructors were impressed. The rest of the students were in shock.
"Perfect Naruto, Full marks in the weapons test. You may go to the other line."
She went to the line as said and waited for the next exam to start.
Genma whistled and muttered, "Well ain't seen a killer chick like that in a while".
Asuma was ogling her, but that ended with a slap in the face by Kurenai.
Rin was impressed. She seems to be a really impressive fighter from what she's shown. There was a side that felt a bit jealous with her. If only she was this good, Kakashi-kun may notice her.
Obito gulped. He was next because the turns are based on clan names in alphabetical order. He was feeling so tense and nervous because she completely stole the show and any results now lower than her will be seen as not as impressive.
"Next, Obito Uchiha".
He stiffened. He slowly walked to the center and stood in his stance. He was sweating immensely. The gravitas of the moment was just too much for him. He just went on and threw his set of shuriken and kunai.
What followed next was a piss-poor attempt at throwing weapons. 5 shuriken hit the mark, 3 Kunai hit the mark. The others just were either at the end of the boards or didn't even hit the board in the first place. Total score 8/20.
Then the rain of laughter began. Of course, what the fuck did he expect to be honest? Being a laughingstock is all I'm good at am I?
Rin frowned. Why can't everyone stop doing this? He's just a poor little boy. He has done nothing wrong by far, so atleast they could quit making fun of Obito.
Naruto had a feeling in her gut that somehow she is the reason for all of this.
The weapons test was over with Naruto being on top with full marks.
The next was the Taijutsu section. Oh boy was Naruto's Taijutsu her best aspect
She can't wait to flex off some moves. She could feel someone's glare boring into her skull. She realized without noticing it was Obito's.
God she didn't earn his hate did he? What did she do to deserve this much malice? She really hoped that she wouldn't have to cross paths in this examination to gain any more-
"Next match, Naruto Uchiha vs Obito Uchiha"
...
...
Never mind.
"Ugh..." Naruto hesitantly steps into her place in the arena ring. She watches as Obito walks on to the other side while glaring daggers at her.
If he hated her previously, then he is going to despise her completely after this. Why does this always have to be like this? Why didn't she get one of those fodder civilian girls to beat the shit out of?
Deciding this is inevitable, Naruto prepares herself mentally. Fuck it, this is a genin exam. This is supposed to go that way.
Obito was angry. 'First she comes out of nowhere and steals my spotlight, now she doesn't even look like she cares'.
It reminded him so much of Kakashi. Yeah that's what she is. A female Kakashi. Always arrogant and acting all cool and hip. And attracts all the attention.
Obito charged in with all his force and he didn't even realise the proctor didn't even say start.
But while running, the poor fucker accidentally tripped and was now going to crash on Naruto. 'Oops'.
Naruto was knocked out of her thoughts when she saw Obito surging towards her like a flying squirrel. By the time she realized it was too late.
"Oomph!" They both crashed into each other. And what happened next is something that Naruto, nor Obito, nor Anyone watching that was ever going to forget.
Naruto was laying on the ground standing a bit up with her elbows. Obito was on top of her but that's not the highlight my folks.
Naruto's and Obito's mouths are sealed together. Yep, history repeats in Naruto's life, or should we say future repeats again?
There was pindrop silence. The proctors were gaping like idiots. They did not sign up for shit like this. But the student's reactions were priceless.
The girls were watching with wide eyes or eyes with hearts at love session that's going on. Kurenai didn't know what to say about this, one part of her loving it, one part of her screaming this is not the place for this. Asuma and Genma had their jaws hitting the floor watching this. Lot of the boys including them were super-jealous of Obito due to whole ordeal.
Rin was flabbergasted. Her eyes looked like they were going to pop out any second. Obito just stole his first kiss. Why is a part of her chest clenching while watching this.
Naruto was horror struck. Different timelines, same results. God why did it have to be like this. Why did her first kisses go away like this?!
Obito was so scared. Oh god, he just forcefully kissed a girl without asking. It feels really nice though, feeling her soft lips, laying on top of her-Erghh!! WHERE DID THOSE COME FROM?!
She had enough of this. Naruto pulled up her legs and slammed into Obito's stomach to get him off. Obito had the entire wind inside his body blown out. After recollecting himself he nervously looked up to face Naruto.
She slowly got up and dusted herself off. She is still not looking up and showing her face. The audience were watching this with with pindrop silence. The tension in the air is almost suffocating. This is not the situations you'd end up everyday.
Obito looked to see Naruto lift her head up fully. Her face was blank. It resembled so much of a ROOT Anbu that it was almost frightening. He gulped and was sweating immensely.
This day couldn't get any worse than this.
"Sensei, I'm ready."said Naruto with monotone.
Usagi nodded and gave the sign and shouted, "HAJIME!"
Obito prepped up. Ok, She took it well. This won't be so bad right?
Five minutes passed and the match came to a close.
In short, Obito got the biggest beating in his entire fucking life. He was kneeling with one leg and you could pretty much feel how much this boy took in.
His clothes were torn and messed up, His lips were busted up and a blue eye to top it all off.
He was dying inside. He got completely annihilated in the test. Never did he feel so pathetic in his entire life. The whole class was watching. Rin was watching. This is easily the worst situation for your crush to see yourself in.
He came prepared. He came determined to shine. And, in the end, He turned himself into a joke.
He completely held back the sobs that were building up on his mouth, but he couldn't hold back his tears.
Only few people saw those tears rolling down those cheeks. Others were busy laughing at Obito's pathetic situation.
The first were Asuma, Genma, and Kurenai. Asuma was trying his level best to not lashing out on the ones laughing on a nice young kid who was not lucky when it came to Ninja skills.
Genma sighed. Getting humiliated in front of your entire class is the worst that could happen during this age amongst children. He really hoped Obito wouldn't take it that deeply.
Kurenai felt really sorry for the guy. What just occured, is really not his fault. He was just unlucky that he had to face someone who was clearly above the caliber of every academy student present here. She'd like to see them laugh it up after being the receiving end of those.
The second was Usagi.
'Kids these days', Usagi thought with a sigh. These 'getting beaten up' situations will come across every ninja in their lives one way or another. So you shouldn't disrespect them just cause your comrade wasn't strong enough. If anything you should comfort them. But after seeing what the majority of the student's reaction were, he'd doubt anyone will be up for that.
The Third was Naruto herself.
After seeing his tears her eyes widened. A serious sensation of guilt was passing through her heart. Her stomach was knotting and twisting. The lump in her throat was not going away.
Just for a sudden spurt of rage, she decimated a poor boy who didn't mean any ill intent. The Kiss was just merely an accident. How could she do this? This was the same situation she was in her past timeline. Where everyone used to make fun of her. Most of all-
She felt like a bully.
Naruto needed to say sorry to Obito for all of that. But when she was about to, Obito slowly stood up and walked away. Numb to the things and words reaching him. He just wanted to get out of here.
Seeing his retreating figure, Naruto thought only one thing.
'What have I done?'
Naruto came out of the building with a hitaite strapped on her head. The Ninjutsu portion went well. She was already well efficient with the jutsus and Kage bunshin is her best jutsu.
She looked around to see various academy students who also got their headbands and showing it off to their parents wide smiles. She only wished her father was alive here to see this.
While there were a lot of students who were given their headbands and staying there, Obito was not there.
Where did he go? Did he not receive his headband? Did he fail?
A sinking feeling was building up inside her. What kind of situation did she put him in? This was all her fault. She could have held back a little. Sure she didn't use her Sharingan but she could have atleast pulled her punches a little to make it fair.
She decided to fix this. She set out to the village center to find Obito. Hopefully she'd find him there.
Unbeknownst to Naruto, Obito was sitting on the bench outside of the academy. Still in his tattered clothes, bleeding nose, busted lip, one blue eye.
He was tired. Parts of his body was aching from the blows he got. He completed the Ninjutsu tests afterwards, just barely. But because it was very low grade and most of his marks in all sessions were pretty bad overall, He knew he wouldn't pass. He didn't want to stay there any longer. I mean why would he? He already got humiliated once, he couldn't take much more.
He came here today with dreams than spun over months. He really couldn't hold back the tears any longer, He just let it all out.
The sudden sound of footsteps forced him to quickly wipe out his tears to see who it was. It was Usagi sensei.
"Hey Obito, Where were you? I looked everywhere for you after the test. But it looked like you left early. Anyway, here, despite some rocky obstacles, you are selected for the Ninja programme. Here's your headband."
Obito looked with wide eyes at the metal clad headband with the leaf symbol engraved on it. Now his eyes were leaking with tears of joy.
"Thank you! Thank you Usagi sensei!" said Obito with pure glee.
Usagi smiled. This was the little guy he was missing. "No problem kid, you've earned it. Now the team assignments are next week. So be sure to attend at class at time atleast for once in your life."
Obito nodded and ran to the school grounds. Usagi was watching this with a sad smile. He prayed to god to give Obito a successful career.
Obito arrived at the grounds where the children are supposed to be gathered. With happiness and pride he announced his words.
"Hey look! I've got promoted to genin finally! Now you better watch out because I'm gonna be Ho... ka..."
He couldn't finish those words because he noticed something now. The grounds were empty. Everyone already went home. No one cares about if he passed or not. He stood there, all alone in the middle of the ground.
Was he that insignificant? Was he that much of a failed ninja?
He atleast expected Rin to be there like when he gets in these types of situations usually. But she wasn't there either. He now couldn't deny the fact that Rin doesn't really consider him a friend anymore. He and She used to hang out alot few years ago. But as the academy years went on, he did notice that she was slowly drifting away from him. Sure she was still nice to him. But that's it. A few nice words and goodbye. After noticing this, he tried his absolute best to mingle and talk as much to her and keep her attention to him. She was his first love wasn't she? But after some time, he did notice that she did sometimes get uncomfortable with his presence. It felt so hard to take in but it is the Bitter truth.
Was he not cool enough?
He decided to change that thought from her mind by shining in front of her in the genin exams. But, turns out fate was cruel to him. Not only did he kiss another girl in front of his crush, but also proceeded to get decimated by the same girl in front of her and the entire class. He probably given her a pretty terrible image of him. A total loser.
He walked away defeated. 'Why am I so alone? Why can't I have any friends? Why does life have to be so cruel to me? At this rate, I'll never become Hokage, or even a decent Ninja to begin with.'
It's almost evening, and the figure of Obito walking down the street towards the setting sun can be seen. Almost like a metaphor, for a sad end...
Or...
To rise a new beginning?
All was set.
She Nicely completed her exams and most probably will be ranked as the top kunoichi. She finally would be able to see Kakashi-kun in the field. She had a lot of high hopes for that. While going through this another thought came to mind.
Obito.
If Rin had to be honest with herself, She really didn't care about Obito these days. She still will be nice to him, but she has other matters to worry about than making him feel better about his sorry ass.
And after seeing him get absolutely beaten up by that Uchiha girl, she finally realized how incompetent and unreliable Obito was. She'd better not bother about him or else she would ruin her chances of achieving her dreams.
She stepped into her home and prepared for dinner.
Naruto was worried.
For the past hour she was looking for Obito around the village. The Town square, Market place, not even a scratch of him.
She really hoped he didn't desert the village early to fall under the hands of Madara. She was trying to prevent that from happening this time. The thought of the Obito she'd seen now transitioning into that white-masked monster is becoming blatantly terrifying to her now.
She is the reason this happened. She couldn't help but feel desperate to give him her apology.
Her eyes widened with relief when she saw Obito slowly walking through the street. So he's still here. He still looked gloomy and his head was down. His clothes were tattered up.
Naruto jumped down and slowly walked towards him.
"Hey."
Obito stopped walking and looked up to see the Uchiha girl was in front of him. For some reason he felt tense and nervous. Is she back to take the toll out of him again?
Naruto's eyes widened when she saw Obito's face. It was beaten up and still not healed. She felt so sad at him and angry at herself. But one thing shocked her. "You, graduated?"
Obito deflated. 'Oh? So that's why she's here huh? To mock and make fun of me?'
He couldn't even retort at that. She has every right to mock him. That's just his life now. A physical and verbal punching bag. He sniffed and nodded. "Yeah, I did."
"That's... Great! You still scored well to earn that, be happy!" She appraised him.
Obito was confused. "Wha..?"
Naruto then hung her head a little to let out the next set of words. "I'm really sorry for beating you up. I got a bit angry at what happened there and I didn't bother to see what it would do for your status at the academy. Please, forgive me Obito."
Obito was a bit shocked. She came here to apologize to him? She wasn't mad?
"Come with me." Naruto grabbed Obito by his arm and started pulling him away.
Obito was even more confused. "Hey, where are you taking me."
He didn't get an answer and after a bit of walking, She made him sit under a peach tree.
"Okay Obito, now take off your shirt."
His eyes widened. A girl just asked him to take his shirt in front of her. And in PUBLIC!
He blushed hard. "Hey, are you taking revenge on me because I kissed you back in school?!"
Naruto's face became tomato red. "No you dummy! You are beaten up! Along with your face you do have injuries under your shirt. I need you to remove them to heal them more easily."
Obito after realizing the real meaning, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. How can he be so stupid? He removed his jacket and shirt as she said.
Naruto then kneeled down and carefully started healing Obito. Without even noticing him staring at her with curious eyes
Insert OST : All That Love's About- Wall-E
Due to weird feelings the mystic palm jutsu gives off, Obito was well having weird things happening to his vision
There was a white haziness to his vision, almost as if like when taking a drug. And what filled it up was, the girl, caressing him with a concerned face.
He observed her face for a bit. She had a heart shaped face with almost creamy fair skin, her eyes... were beautiful. It was round, friendly, kind looking, intelligent eyes. She seemed to wear eyeliner as well.
Her hair, looked the part with the Uchiha shtick. But one thing stood out to him. Instead of being greyish normal black hair like he and most of the other Uchiha have, her hair was the deepest shade of black. While it was pretty spiky in shape, he could clearly see that it was really silky and soft. She had few bangs of them draped down her a face upto the middle of her nose and it was also dancing in the flowing evening wind.
She was just breathtaking to look at. She also seemed kind. A bit too kind for a one coming from her kin. He can't sense chakra yet but he gets some kind of soothing feeling just being close to her.
She then smiled at him. His heart literally skipped a beat seeing that. Such warmth, such a kind feeling, something he didn't get after the death of his grandmother.
What is this feeling?
Why is he so intrigued by this?
What's happening to him?
Naruto completed healing him a minute ago, but she couldn't understand like why he was gaping at her like a kid who finally saw santa claus.
She snapped her fingers at his face. "Hello... anybody in there?"
And just like that Obito was knocked out of his stupor.
Music end
Obito felt weird. He really didn't know why those odd thoughts came into the mind of his.
"I'm sorry, It was the first time I was exposed to those kind of jutsu, and my head got a bit cloudy. Thank you! I feel a lot better now, Mr's... Uh..."
Naruto frowned. "Did you really forget my name so quickly? I remember yours and this is what I get in return? Hmph, meanie."
"No, no, no I'm sorry! I just didn't have the best impression of you when I first saw you. But I see I was wrong. So please, let's greet for real this time, I'm Obito!"
Naruto smiled warmly. "I'm Naruto."
Obito liked it. The name had a nice ring to it. "Naruto... It's really nice name."
They then started chatting and talking about themselves while walking through the streets together. This was the start of something wonderful to come.
"So basically what your saying is, you thought I was some stuck up bitch with a superiority complex? Like Kakashi?"
Obito nodded. "Yeah, basically. Wait... you know Kakashi?"
"Yeah, he is pretty popular among the masses by the way I heard about him. I thought he'd be really cool guy. But after getting to see him for real... Yeah I didn't really like him very much. He literally behaves like some spoiled brat and Oh, my god, he has an entire forest shoved up his ass. He kinda views other ninja of his age group as beneath him. It's just so dickish." Naruto said with a bit of distaste. She really liked her jounin sensei in her timeline, but the one in this one is a totally different person.
"Yeah! Finally someone who actually agrees with me! All of these girls are after him like is some alpha male or some shit. I figured you'd be also the same with the likes you have on being a ninja." Obito asked with curiosity.
"Eh... Fangirls...their mere existence triggers me. All they want is some Asocial hot and cool emo boy. Oh, and don't forget he has to be an asshole as well, very important. These are the kind of guys I like the least. If your not gonna give a flying fuck about the well being of the ones beside you... I'm not gonna a give a fuck about your coolness sorry!" Naruto quipped.
Both of them laughed whole heartedly and resumed sharing their life experiences.
"Oh, so your new in Konoha? So that's why I didn't see you around here." Obito thought out loud.
"Yeah, I was away for a really long time and now's when I finally get back home."
"What about your parents?" Obito asked.
Naruto deflated a bit and answered. "Both dead. I'm an Orphan."
Oh. She is an Orphan, just like him. But then he realized he brought her mood down. "Oh!Don't get sad! I'm sorry for asking."
"Don't be sorry, I'm okay with it. If anything, my parents would be happy that I got here safe and sound. And they would be extra happy that I got puppy-face like you as my friend!" Naruto said the last part with pure happiness.
"Hey! I'm not a puppy-face! What makes you say that?!" Obito asked hysterically.
"Of course you are one! You have the face of a puppy! and the voice of an even cuter puppy!"
"Gah!" Obito crossed his arms with a fake pout.
She stared at him with a smile as they kept walking. He still looked away.
After sometime, he looked over to her and their eyes met. And both of them broke out into laughing fits.
"You, are definitely not what I expected you to be."
She smiled. "Yeah, I get that a lot."
Naruto's stomach gurgled and she blushed. "Oh, my tummy's crying. I need to get something to eat. I forgot to buy groceries for dinner by our talking. Even if I do get it now, I won't make it in time now that it's late."
Obito rubbed his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm hungry too. And I don't know how to cook so I usually eat from restaurants."
"Hey, I know! Let's go to Ichiraku ramen! My treat!"
Hearing Naruto's suggestion, Obito nodded. He hasn't had ramen before so he doesn't know what it tastes like. So why not try it out.
'Oh, so this is the shop that created all the fuzz.' Obito now recognized that this was the shop that opened pretty recently that got a lot of customers on it's first opening. He'd heard the food is really really good.
"Hello, Oh! Welcome Naruto-chan! I see you've brought a friend today." Teuchi arrived and greeted them.
"Yup, It's his first time so I guess I should volunteer. I'll have 2 bowls of miso ramen and... you?" Naruto asked.
"I'll have miso as well." Obito replied.
"Alright, Three bowls of miso comin up!"
While the ramen was being prepared, Obito opened up some things.
"I've been meaning to ask you this, but, never got the chance."
Naruto looked towards a him and nodded. "Go ahead."
"You were still holding back on me back there weren't you?"
Naruto stiffened a little. But she eventually nodded. "Yes, I did, I didn't use my Sharingan against you."
"You have the Sharingan already? Wow, that's amazing."
Obito then put on a sad smile. "You really are amazing Naruto. You've done something even a lot of the adults in the clan couldn't do. A Natural Genius if you will. A level that I can never attain."
Naruto eyes widened and then narrowed. "What do you mean you can never attain?"
"You know what I mean. I've been struggling with everything for almost my entire life. No matter how much I try, I always remained the dead-last, loser. Aside from a few acquaintances, I really don't have any friends to rely on. You really are gifted. While I'm not."
Naruto shook her head. "No, Obito. Despite public belief, I'm not a prodigy. The level I'm at now, is because I trained relentlessly. Sometimes for days and weeks non-stop. The only way for achieving true mastery of Ninja arts is hard work. There is no other secret."
Obito was listening intently.
Naruto continued. "Take the The Legendary Sannin for example. The first of the team was Orochimaru. A once in a lifetime prodigy, a lot of people called him. The top of his class, everyone believed he'd even surpass the Third Hokage. Sandaime-sama even showed favouritism towards him and viewed him like his own son. The second was Tsunade Senju. The top kunoichi of the class. Great in academics, spectacular in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, and her medical Ninjutsu was viewed as unparallel for her age. She was also from the ruling royal clan of Konoha, as well the strongest of it's time. The Senju clan. The Third and last member was Jiraiya. He was an Orphan. He didn't have any noteworthy specialities and sucked at everything ninja related. He was also the dead-last of the class. Everyone thought he would be the weakest link in the team and would be a liability for them."
Obito was shocked. Jiraiya of the sannin used to be like that? Then how did he...?
"But Jiraiya didn't stop there. He wanted to prove that with hardwork, anyone can acheive greatness. That's the thing Obito. Fate does exist. No matter how much you deny it. Everyone in this entire has a bright and happy fate awaiting for them. But to achieve it, you have to choose the right path. The world believed Jiraiya would never be good ninja. But with hardwork, he proved them really, really wrong. Not only that He is widely regarded as the strongest sannin. Look at that, how much the supposed dead-last of his class achieved." Naruto said.
Obito's eyes widened. "So you're saying that I can do it too? I can be Hokage one day? So the people will finally recognize me?"
"Yeah, but there is a catch Obito. You shouldn't view the Hokage title as something you should dream for just to get attention. Because that title means a lot more than just that. Being Hokage means thr entire village will be in your shoulders. You will have to be the strongest ninja in your village as well. Because when you are a Hokage, when a massive threat arrives in the village, the first thing the villagers will do is screaming out your name for help. Because in their eyes, the Hokage is the guardian of them. The whole village becomes your family. So you have big shoes to fill if you dream of achieving it. And I know you will."
Obito was shocked. "But how? I have been working hard for a long time. And Didn't get anywhere."
Naruto shook her head. "That's because you just need the right guidance. The strongest ninja who have walked the earth all became strong with the help of others. It's okay to ask for help from your friends Obito."
Obito hung his head. "I don't have any friends."
Naruto smiled her toothy grin. "Well, you have me!"
Obito's head snapped up quickly and looked at her with shock.
"What are you looking at? Yes, you heard me. Ever since I got here, you are the first true friend I've got. I would love to spend time with you. I'll even help you with your ninja skills. I never leave my friends behind, that's a promise!"
After hearing that. Obito was tearing up. He was feeling so happy. Someone who finally acknowledged him, after all these years, he might still have hope after all.
"Thank you! Thank you! Naru-chan!"
Naruto became a bit flustered. The only ones who ever called her was Iruka-sensei and her dad. But she still loved it anyways.
"Your welcome Obi-kun, now stop crying and be my puppy again." She said by wiping his tears.
Obito did as said and smiled his trademark grin. 'God, he is just like me.' was the thought going through her head.
Both of their ramen bowls arrived and they broke their chopsticks and started eating. "Itadakimasu!"
I'm so sorry that I uploaded this chapter a lot late than promised. It's because after the pandemic is cooling up a bit, and at my country it is pretty well managed by now. My college re-opened without no warning. I was dumped with assignments, notes, series tests that really fucked up my time schedule. I couldn't focus in the fic while I was on that. But thankfully my college has closed again and I'll be able to do this properly again... hopefully. Don't worry I'll never abandon this fic that's a promise. The next chapter will be within 2 weeks.
The character known as Usagi is actually from the Naruto anime. Remember that glassed teacher that gives Obito his headband in the flashback episodes? Yeah the same guy. But his name was never stated so I've made one up myself for him in this chapter. His name literally means 'Rabbit'. What? You think I'm lazy with names? Iruka's name literally translates to 'Dolphin' so get over it. Plus he most likely will never appear again on this fic so, there you go.
So be sure to follow, I really appreciate the support you gave up until now. If you love me, I'll love you ten times back.
So until next time
Ja ne!