Hey everyone! I'm looking to change my story summary (unless you all tell me you like the current one best) into something that is a little more true to the story, but mostly more interesting to people who don't know anything about it.

However, I've been writing this for over eight months now (what! !) and I feel like I don't have enough of an objective perspective to write a summary that would be good for someone coming in fresh to the story.

The website says it allows 384 characters in a summary. For those who don't know, a character is a any letter, number, symbol, punctuation mark, or even a space. If you guys would help me out and send me what your version of a summary that suits this story I would be so so grateful.

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I might not pick one whole summary, but use a mishmash of them. However any summary I use, or draw inspiration from, I will mention the username of the creator and give credit to them in the top of the first chapter posted after the summary is changed.

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and getting attached to my weird characters!

X

~Lazy

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general plot and OCs

This turned out longer than I thought it was going to be. There are sections I wrote that are bit rushed but I couldn't pace myself in my eagerness to finish this chapter and move onto the next bit.

You guys have no idea how pleased I was to have feedback for Masami. I love his character in my head and I really wanted to do what was in my head justice. I'm seriously so attached to him to the point where I got broody and started looking up adoption requirements even though theres no way I would qualify.

Finally Lee is introduced, even if only their first meeting. Also I don't think the chemistry between Sonaru and Lee is as good as Masami and Sonaru, but with Lee there's more time to build a relationship since readers already want it and are a little emotionally invested in it happening, but that's not the case with OCs.

I will probably get the next chapter out within three days, but no promises.

As always English spoken is underlined and also as always I've not edited this so sorry for mistakes.

Thank you so much for awesome reviews, as well as favs and follows! Let me know what works, or what doesn't work for you, as well as any prompts for scenes you'd like to see.

Chapter 41 - The Last Witness Before The Wave Hits

I spent most of the weeks in which DFB, Genma and Tenzō were all out on missions incredibly bored. I messed around with and tweaked exploding tags in my spare time initially, achieving a large range of different kinds, but eventually I wanted to move on to other things or at least put them into practice during trap making and spars.

The issue was I'd promised that when I made the jump from explosive tags to elsewhere, I would do so in DFB's vicinity to ensure I didn't accidentally kill myself. Additionally, until I was past beginners level, new seals were only tested with Tenzō or DFB having checked them first. With none of these options currently available to me I had to find other things to do.

Gai spared a fair amount of time for me, which I was grateful for, but I still couldn't remotely keep up with him and the whole point of his personal exercise regime was to push himself past his limits everyday. I had to busy myself elsewhere during this time so that he could focus. Additionally he was committed to being the best Sensei he could be to his Genin-to-be which required a surprising amount of prep work and research on his part.

There was always the option of spending more time with Fukuda, but I didn't want to give her the expectation that whenever I was otherwise unoccupied she could pressure or persuade me to be with her. She was like one of those annoying school teachers who believed their subject was more important than any other subject and acted offended when you didn't show an inclination to believe the same.

I went back to wandering the streets as Sona and spent a significant amount of time with Tora, however eventually out of sheer desperation I stayed at home and practiced with the one thing I had pretty much avoided doing so far; my dōjutsu.

So far any attempts at putting my Ketsuryūgan to use had resulted in incremental improvements and absolutely nothing to write home about. I just couldn't figure it out, there was something I was missing. If I actually had a living Chinoike relative they might have been able to give me a hint at where exactly I was going wrong, but as far as anyone DFB was in contact with knew, the Chinoike clan was long dead and whoever had contributed to half my DNA wasn't making enough waves to find her. That was if she wasn't also dead.

Beyond my poison immunity and my connection to my own blood when it was within a certain range, still in liquid form and less than a day old, I had barely made any new discoveries. The only other thing I had found I could do was an ability to sense in great detail my blood flow while it was still inside my body, but only when I focussed.

With practice I had increased the range I could stay connected to my own blood to eight and a half metres, and for just over twenty hours with only one drop of blood - which was still relatively useful in mapping out areas if I could get my blood mobile by flushing it down a sink, or hiding some on a person - especially because the more blood the further the distance I could remain connected. I figured since I had too much time on my hands I should see what else I could squeeze out of my pitiful dōjutsu.

The answer: not much.

Despite my best efforts and repeated practice, I only managed to increase the range by a centimetre, and for thirty extra seconds. I could only hope that this barrier was due to my physical age and that easy use of the dōjutsu somehow unlocked itself after a certain amount of time, because otherwise I was never going to have the fucking thing battle ready.

Although maybe I was being a bit unfair on myself. After all, I'd only had it for a year and I didn't remember Uchiha Sasuke becoming a sharigan master after a year even with his unfair boost from Orchimaru's seal.

With hours of practice piling up quickly I finally had a mini breakthrough, albeit completely accidentally. Rather than trying to push or pull or coax or force anything, in a moment of relaxation in trying to calm my building annoyance, I released the strain and effort.

A tingling built up in my face, where I was focussing my relaxation efforts. I breathed deep and imagined sending the loosening of my muscles and zen feelings to my head. I realised after a few seconds that I could feel a rather large amount of blood rush to the surface of my skin. My cheeks and forehead burned hot when I placed my hands to them and when I checked my reflection I caught the bright lobster redness of my face.

It was only a minor thing. Barely a breakthrough at all. But it was still pretty awesome. I could make myself blush at will, and similarly when I tried it, I could restrain myself from flushing.

Although it had next to no application in combat, the ability to blush or not on command would greatly increase my lying abilities and additionally I was sure that the control of where my blood flowed internally would probably havesome application toward weathering cold climates better. It wasn't much but I figured I'd end on a small high for now and remained determined to be satisfied with the small amount of progress in order to prevent demoralising doubts.

DFB and Genma were predicted to return the next day anyway so an end to my boredom was in sight. I probably needed more friends though.

I was awoken in the early hours of the morning by the sound of DFB coming home. I could tell by the sound of his gait and his movements that he was only tired, not injured. There were no further sounds from him but that didn't really tell me much, since DFB was perfectly capable of moving without making a peep even to my advanced hearing. The only reason he'd made any noise when he'd entered was because this was a safe space he could relax in and it was to let me know the person coming in was him, not a stranger.

A few minutes later I heard the shower turn on and only ten minutes after that the bedroom door opened. Even in the dark, the sound of DFB's movements radiated nonchalance as he dressed for bed and climbed in.

At this point I could probably successfully convince DFB I was sleeping when I wasn't, but there was no point to that deception. Besides, everything from the fact that he'd come home long before I would have naturally woken, to his unhesitant movements around me, to the fact that he'd had a shower and intended to sleep told me that nothing straining had occurred and he didn't need space in order to compartmentalise the mission before he could settle back into safe Konoha life without being on a hair trigger.

"Welcome back," I softly spoke through the darkness.

He sighed, a deep unwinding sound, a hand curled around my torso and pulled me closer and the other one curled through my spiky hair to scritch at my scalp.

"Maa such a boring mission," a childish whine gently escaped, "I hope you had a more interesting time than I did."

I appreciated the knowledge that no one got hurt. "I made a friend. He's a kid. If you two ever met I think you'd like him."

"Hm? Why's that?" His voice became lethargic and I yawned as I felt him begin to sink into the mattress more.

"He's a shit," my words were muffled by my tiredness.

DFB made a vague acknowledging noise in the back of his throat and before the conversation could go any further I felt myself fall back into unconsciousness.

When I woke up the next morning DFB was still asleep, an event that didn't happen all that often, and so I was careful not to wake him as I got ready that morning. I knew half of the reason he didn't wake had nothing to do with my sneaking skills and more to do with the fact that DFB was subconsciously aware of me but familiar enough with the sound and smell of me that I didn't register as something he should wake up for.

Gai was waiting for me in our usual training ground to go through our morning exercise regime/spar. I expected DFB to join at some point before we finished at midday but he was a no show. Somewhat disappointed, but figuring he must have been really exhausted, I made my way home to check in on him only to find once I arrived that he was already up and dressed.

He barely looked up when I arrived, bent over the table and making rapid notes as he cross referenced multiple scrolls and his pre existing notes on the seal he was creating.

"DFB?" I tentatively asked, unsure what exactly I was even asking.

He pulled his eyes away from his work for long enough to address me, "Sorry Su-chan, I know we usually spend time together when I get back from a mission but I was lucky enough to be able to work on the seal during this one, and I ran across what I think I needed to tie it all together. If I get this right the seal will be ready by tomorrow when Tenzō and Genma return. Do you mind finding something to occupy yourself with elsewhere? I need to concentrate on this without distraction."

"I thought Genma was with you?"

"He was, he stayed behind an extra day to sort some last things out. That's alright with you, though?"

The thing was, I was actually really disappointed. I had missed DFB like crazy and he'd never been away for so long before, especially with almost everyone away as well. But this seal was also really important, and although I'd shoved it as far into the back of my mind as I could, there was a part of me that was always acutely aware of the year and how close it was slowly drawing to when things started to really go to shit. The weight of this one last secret, for all that it barely counted as a secret anymore, was a serious fucking burden and I wanted it to be finally gone.

I knew if I showed any indication of my disappointment DFB would set aside what he was doing and wait until I was busy to work on the seal, because he spoiled me and I was well aware of that fact.

I had had plenty of practice lying to him by this point, though, and with the addition of my blush and heart rate control, there was little that would give me away in an environment I was so familiar with lying in.

"I should probably spend some time doing something other than lying around inside practicing explosive tags, reading history books, getting nowhere with my dōjutsu and pretending I'm Spider-man on the walls, anyway."

He gave a brief snort, not seeing through my fib, and went back to scribbling quick notes in various pieces of paper around him.

"Alright. Feel free to come back at around five," he a shot a brief eye smile at me before his work caught his full attention once more.

It wasn't until I was walking away from the building that I let a despondent sigh escape me. I had nothing to do at all, since I'd really been relying on Genma or DFB to be free today to distract me.

With nothing better to do I took to wandering without direction. I only half paid attention as I aimlessly meandered, mostly caught up in daydreams. It was because of this that I accidentally ended up in one of the few places in Konoha that I had intentionally avoided until now: the Academy.

I hadn't particularly wanted to meet any of the kids who were probably going to be so important in the future while they were still unskilled, ignorant and childish students. I didn't want to expose myself to the temptation of interfering and 'improving'. I didn't want to be let down by reality since I wasn't in denial that I had high expectations.

But here I was, staring into the academy training ground which was honestly built more like a playground for kiddie shinobi-in-training. Here I was staring at a lone kid punching a log over and over again with an unimpressive stance and unimpressive strength.

Even from where I stood I could see blood dotting through the bandages wrapping his arms and hands. When he turned around to take a drink and wipe the dripping sweat out of his eyes my breath caught in my throat and I froze.

There was no shiny bowl cut, or orange leg warmers and green all in one suit. But the thick-lashed wide round eyes and the eyebrows that could give Gai a run for his money were unmissable.

He was a sweet looking kid, actually, if kind of unusual. I was caught between backing away and introducing myself, but ultimately decided to retreat. I wasn't sure if the class had done their exams yet and I didn't want to accidentally influence his results.

Just as I had made my mind to turn around and leave, I was spotted.

"Hello!" He called to me, with just... way too much enthusiasm, "Do you need something?"

He made his way toward me at a jog, during which I initially spent trying to come up with something to say that would stop him from doing so and then spent resigned to the fact that despite my intentions I was going to meet Rock Lee before he was Gai's student.

"Hello small child, my name is Rock Lee!"

After just a beat too long I replied, "Subaru. My name, I mean."

He sat back on his feet with his hand on the dirt to balance himself, and eyes far too wide and sparkly looking. He didn't even seem to notice my reticence toward my last name.

"I noticed you were watching me. Do you want to be a shinobi too, one day?" He asked, with a wide proud grin.

I smiled briefly, hidden underneath my mask, "you're not a shinobi yet, Rock-kun."

He laughed sheepishly, "no I guess you're right, Subaru-kun. But I will be soon! My Genin exams are in two weeks and then I'll be a shinobi of Konoha, taking missions and doing amazing things!"

His eyes seemed to shine in excitement and awe as he spoke, and had he been someone else I might have been inclined to correct his perception of what it was to be a shinobi. But this was Rock Lee, and even before I met him I had had faith that he would turn himself into someone who did amazing things in the face of impossibility.

"I'm sure you'll be great, Rock-kun," I told him sincerely. Maybe it was my knowing and calm tone, probably at odds to what those words would sound like coming out of any other child's mouth my physical age, but he seemed to fold in on himself all of a sudden.

"Oh... I don't know about that. I'm not very good yet, and I can't do things that my other classmates can do. My teachers say..."

Right, Lee's chakra was fucked up or something. I figured I wasn't the right person the instil belief in him since Gai was on his way into the boy's life and that was practically Gai's speciality, but I could give it a go.

"Who's your idol, Rock-kun?" I interrupted the boy.

"M-my idol," he asked confused, "I don't think I have one. And you can call me Lee, just Lee, everyone does."

"Okay, Lee. Do you have a rival?"

He looked even more confused, now, "a...rival? N-no I don't think so."

"Nobody amongst your peers who competes with you and spars with you. Nobody who you aim to outdo or tries to outdo you?" I clarified, "someone who you use to inspire you to do better, work harder, aim higher, so that you can beat them."

"I..." I could see him wracking his brains, and I knew that perhaps if I had worded it differently he might have picked Neji, or someone else who was in the top of his class, "no. Everyone's better than me, they don't need to compete."

He sounded miserable. A despondent Lee, I quickly learned, was an uncomfortably heartbreaking sight. He honestly seemed like a kid who belonged frolicking with puppies and in a field of flowers.

But I wasn't a saint. I had my own agenda here, and the truth was that I had been quietly worried and... jealous. Gai was getting three new students. Fine. Gai was getting a protégé. Okay that was a little jealousy inspiring but I could deal. Gai was getting a protégé who he was going to look at like the son he never had? Cue fears of abandonment.

Gai and Lee, I knew, were going to have this amazing incredibly close bond to the point where Lee was going to be a mini Gai, and Gai was going to love Lee like the kid he never had. Additionally, Lee was an actual child, unlike me.

He was already going to have to cut back time with me to teach his students and I was scared that he was going to see the potential I knew was there in Lee and give him extra time and attention and care by pulling back some of what he gave me, without even realising that was what he was doing. The idea of trying to prevent Gai from giving Lee his all due to feelings of insecurity and possessiveness and jealousy didn't sit right with me.

So I was inserting myself into the duo before the duo even existed.

Petty of me? Maybe. But it wasn't like I was intending to be a drain. I believed in Lee, too, and I wanted to see him flourish. I loved Gai and I wanted to see him connect with and love Lee like I knew he could. But that was the point. I wanted to be there to see it. I wanted to be part of it. I just... didn't want to be excluded.

"I'll be your rival, then, Lee," I proposed to him with a challenging smile.

"Huh?!" He reacted as though someone had given him an electric shock, "you want to be my rival?! But... but you're a little kid," He finished hesitantly.

"I'm a little kid who can kick your ass," I nonchalantly replied, "and not just because you think you're bad at everything shinobi related, or whatever it is. I can beat you because I get private tutoring well above the academy standard."

He still looked far from sold at the idea, and I released a frustrated puff of breath, "look, Lee, I'm going to try to beat you after I've finished talking and I'm not going to stop until you've either been ground into the dirt or you've beaten me in return. If I win, which I will because right now I'm better than you at fighting, I expect you to give everything to being capable of winning against me next time we see each other. That is what being a rival is all about-"

"I don't want to hurt you, Subaru-kun. I've been training to be a shinobi for years now and you're small and young. This isn't a good idea," he frowned, worried..

"You're worried about hitting me."

"Yes," he nodded, looking relieved that I finally understood why he was reluctant.

I shrugged, "if you hurt me that badly I'll just train harder so I can kick your ass next time."

"It seems like you're not really giving me a choice," he muttered weakly.

I didn't reply with words, I just swung a fist at him.

Honestly whoever had been teaching Lee clearly had had absolutely no faith in him passing his exams, because they'd put zero effort into his taijustsu forms - which, being the one thing he could do, should have been the thing his Sensei focussed on.

Realistically I could have laid Lee out with one chakra enhanced punch, but that wasn't the point of this. Any semi-decent Genin could have laid Lee out with one punch. I had no doubted that Lee had never sparred against any of his classmates properly and been able to improve from them because that was exactly what had been happening.

I wasn't here to confirm to Lee just how little skill he currently had, I was here to fire him up and make him see me as someone who would fight him.

I toned myself right down, which was a hell of lot harder than it looked considering that was never something I'd had to try to do before in a fight considering who my partners usually were. If it had been anyone more observant than Lee they'd have been able to tell what I was doing in an instant and I realised that maybe practicing with people a little closer to my skill level might actually teach me something ie. how not to fight to kill or severely damage every single time.

It was a good thing I wasn't intending to convince Lee I was at his level because there was no way I'd have managed. I only just managed to give him a fight that lasted a little under four minutes.

Eventually I knocked Lee to the ground with a kick that caught him off guard, and he went down fast. His lip was split, but not badly and having had to allow some of his hits to connect, I was sure I'd have a stunning bruise underneath my eye. He lay there, dusty and sweaty and trembling from exertion, staring up in shock at the sky.

I wasn't sure if he was more surprised that a toddler had beaten him, or that he'd partaken in a spar that had lasted long enough for him to fight back.

I approached him until my shadow covered his face, and his wide eyes flicked over to me, looking unsure and a little wary of whatever was about to happen.

I held my hand out to him, and after a pause in which he stared at it almost disbelievingly, he took it allowing me to pull him up from the ground enough that he could find his feet.

"Not too bad. Next time I'm sure you'll be that much closer to besting me. Not that you will," I commented.

"I was close at times!" I protested.

"Close isn't good enough," I eye smiled infuriatingly, "work harder. It's embarrassing for my rival to beaten all the time."

He stared at me again for a long moment, this time with incredulity, "how old are you?"

"Twenty three," I continued my infuriating eye smile.

"T-twenty three! But you can't be!" He spluttered.

"Appearances can be deceiving, Lee. I expect you to call me Subaru-senpai since I'm older than you," I told him without a flicker of deception crossing my expression as I messed with him.

"I-w-what?"

"Well? I'm waiting," with barely a shift of my muscles and the lightest touch of Killing Intent I did a Hatake special and became suddenly ominously threatening without seeming to have done anything, still eye smiling.

"Hai, S-Subaru-senpai."

"Good. I'll see you soon, Lee, I look forward to knocking you into the dust again."

"W-wait, you'll spar with me again?" He asked, sounding simultaneously hopeful and dismayed.

"Of course, we're rivals now. I'll fight you whenever you want."

"O-oh..." there was a pause, and then all of a sudden his face morphed into a sort of happy overwhelmed sad combination, and his eyes watered, "I see. I-I look forward to it, Subaru-senpai." Holy shit he was actually calling me that.

"Excellent."

"And next time, I'll definitely win!" Almost alarmingly quickly, his expression went from emotional to fiery, with a bright grin on his face.

"Hm, no you won't, but good luck trying," I simply replied, getting out a book on seals and sticking my nose into it as I walked away before he started actually crying.

"Yosh!" He cried after me, as I smiled with pleased triumph underneath my mask.

By the time I made it back home I was just past the time DFB had suggested to me, and frankly the place looked like it had been hit with a bomb filled with paper. I paused in the doorway, taking it all in, until my eyes stopped on a wearily smug looking DFB sitting in the middle of all the chaos with a single piece of paper in hand.

He lifted his gaze to me and limply waved the fuuinjutsu covered page, "I finally completed my first original seal."

"Congratulations. I'm not tidying this up." And then I swallowed heavily as I realised what exactly that meant.

His keen eyes spotted my sudden nerves and he visibly softened, "we can wait until tomorrow when Genma and Tenzō are back if you want, Subaru. That will make everything easier for me in applying the seal as well."

I nodded once, suddenly filled with trepidation despite my earlier eagerness to finally spill the truth. But whether I wanted to or not, I had committed to sharing what I knew, and I wasn't backing out now.

The next afternoon seemed to come at a glacial pace, and yet all too quickly by the time all four Jōnin were sat in our living room with privacy seals up to max. All of them carried serious faces, aware that I had something life changing to tell them and that they physically wouldn't be able to tell a soul afterward.

"Before anything else I want to explain how the seal works Gai, Subaru and Genma," DFB began, "so that you know what you're agreeing to. Once this seal goes on, there's no coming off. Tenzō and I worked for months on unwinding and figuring out the complexities of the seal he and I have on our tongues in order to both remove them and prevent this new one from being removed through the same methods.

"The person who placed the seal on our tongues was by no means an expert at seals, and although neither are we, we know a lot more than him on the matter. Anyone attempting to undo the seal like we're about to for ours will only get so far and then it will automatically kill you by destroying your brain so that no one can extract the information somehow after your death.

"Once the seal goes on, you won't be able to share what Su-chan will tell you even if you're being tortured for it. A Yamanka won't be able to find it in your mind if they tried. You won't be able to imply, write down, or give away in any manner what has been said. The way the seal enforces this will not be painful, but there is an element of mind control in that it will monitor and alter subconscious wording and choices that give things away. You'll simply find yourself unable to."

"The only way that this is reversed is if at least one other person with the same seal gives the permission, alongside an individual password. Subaru will be the only exception to this, in that the information probably has too much influence on who she is and how she acts every day, so her seal will be the Master seal.

"If someone gives permission to say or do something, Subaru can deny and override them. Subaru may act as she wishes and imply knowledge, but if she wants to explicitly share what she knows, she'll have to gain permission from one other like anyone else. If we die, the seal destroys our brains before fading. Once she has shared with us this afternoon, the seal will go on, and tomorrow evening after we've thought about it we can discuss plans."

There was a ringing silence after he spoke, during which everyone nodded their agreement. He turned to me, his face intense and serious, "Okay then, tell us what you know Su-chan."

I took a deep, shaky breath, my heart fluttering nervously and my palms clammy, before I let it out in a whoosh and began to speak.

"So you guys know by now that this is my second go at life after I died in my last one, and that in my last one I lived on a different world... in a different universe or dimension or whichever one is the correct term."

"...no?" Genma's eyes were wide and his mouth was half open.

"Oh... I didn't tell you?" I meekly asked.

"No! I had no idea," he spluttered, "I knew there was something up... but you never told me what exactly. Wait, you guys all knew? I was the only one?!"

Tenzō nodded, and I narrowed my eyes at him in confusion, "Hang on, who told you, Tenzō-oji?"

"You did," he casually replied.

"I...did? Oh... I remember doing that, now," I sheepishly admitted as I recalled the blasé way I'd accidentally let it slip moments before I'd left Tenzō behind in a training field without even realising what I'd done, before shaking my head, "not that it matters. We all know now."

"Wait so how old are you?" Genma interrupted.

"Twenty three including the years I've been here."

"What the fuck," he exclaimed in wonder, looking up as though Kami could explain to him just what was going on.

"Careful what you say next, Genma," DFB warned quietly, a threateningly unbothered eye smile on his face.

Genma paused and looked at DFB, then at me, and then back to DFB, "Of course this happened to you, Kakashi, you bastard. Of course you get a fully matured, functioning human being to give you an easy ride as a parent, who you can train as hard as you like and not mess them up for life. Fucking Hatakes."

"Thank you, I think I deserve this kind of good fortune, too. It's nice to know I'm not the only one," he lightly agreed, before his eye opened and he glared, "now stop interrupting."

Genma raised his hands up in capitulation and smirked at me, "fine, sorry. Carry on, Mini Bastard."

I rolled my eyes, thankful that I could control my blush now, "Alright long story short, there was a cartoon in my old world that was all about the Elemental Nations. It told a story of how a bunch of shinobi saved the world. So far from what I've seen, this Elemental Nations is the same Elemental Nations as depicted with only minor and unimportant differences. With the exception of one glaring and important difference.

"Not to toot my own horn or anything but that's me. Hatake Subaru didn't exist in the cartoon, and since I'm not inclined to just hope and pray that the events depicted work themselves out without me doing anything, or with only me knowing that there's something that can be done, I'm here to tell you what I know. Or what I think I know."

"...that's really weird. And random."

"You only need a few centimetres of tongue left to place the seal, Genma."

"Right, I'm just going to sit all the way over there away from the Bastard, in case he tries to kill me."

"Carry on, Beautiful Blossom!"

"Thanks Gai... Okay so first things first you should probably know that the show was named after the protagonist, pretty much the most important character in the show, and thus arguably the most important person in the Elemental Nations right now: Naruto."

"...Shit," Kakashi went pale, and I smiled grimly at him.

"It gets worse. Much worse."

We were all exhausted by the end of the night, and incredibly solemn. DFB and Tenzō barely had the energy left to remove both their seals and place the new ones on everybody. It settled onto the back of my tongue with a fizz and a taste of chalk, before dying out entirely.

There were things I knew I'd forgotten, and things which I knew I missed in the show entirely thanks to the half attention I was paying when I watched it. There were things I knew I'd misremembered, and wished I'd had perfect memory back then. All my mind could do now was perfectly retain the imperfect memories. I was frustrated by my lack of knowledge about huge chunks near to the end of Naruto. By that point I'd been working off of little sleep and too much revising to really be paying any attention to what was going on on the screen not even in my direct field of view.

Right now, though, none of that mattered. What mattered was a wan DFB holding me close and I futilely attempted to soothe him with my presence.

"You're sure? You're absolutely certain," he sounded shattered in more ways than one, and I could see heavy grief dredged up from the depths of his emotions and split open once again with this fresh wound.

"I'm sure, tou-san. It was your Obito," I whispered, wishing I could give another answer.

"Shit," he breathed in despair, not for the first or even tenth time that evening. His chest shook for a second and he closed his eyes as though that would block out reality.

Eventually he spoke, his throat sounded tight with betrayal and pain, "not my Obito, then is he? The Obito I knew would never do that."

"I'm sorry," I squeezed him as tightly as I could, like I could wring the horrible mess of feelings and memories and trauma from him.

He didn't say anything else after that, though. He just curled closely around me and I honestly couldn't tell if it was protectively, or in order to seek asylum in my presence.

To my dismay, DFB wandered around like a ghost the next day, lost in the unpleasantness of his thoughts. He delayed everyone meeting up to plan for a few days, and although I tried to be there for him, all he seemed to want from me were answers that sometimes I could give him and sometimes I couldn't.

Regardless of what I told him, none of it showed any signs of helping. I was fairly sure the Kakashi in Naruto managed to collect himself amazingly quickly in the face of the news, but then that Kakashi was supposed to be a fair few years older, with students who'd grown up and become amazing shinobi in their own right, as well as someone who'd already experienced a form of defeat and betrayal from Sasuke and had managed to carry on after that.

DFB was fresh to this kind of close intentional betrayal, and he was taking it badly. I knew there was no quick fix to the turbulent emotions he was undoubtedly experiencing, but acting like he was a phantom wasn't going to do anything. All that could really help was some time and perspective, but getting back into the swing of his routine could help fill that time and keep him going.

So after leaving it for a few days, after he delayed everyone meeting up to plan again, I approached him from where he sat with his face buried in Icha Icha.

"Tou-san?"

He gradually lifted his pale face and blinked slowly at me, "Aa?"

"You need to eat, you need get out of the flat and do something normal, and you need to arrange a day and time for everyone to come round and talk, then stick to that arrangement," I spoke kindly but firmly, with my arms crossed.

It was probably a mark of how much time we spent together that we definitely had an argument, but no words actually got spoken.

It was mostly with body language and eyebrows. Or eyebrow as the case may be.

After a few mostly silent minutes, DFB released a tired sigh and scraped his fingers through his hair.

"It's one of the shittest feelings in the world when someone you care deeply about and have been loyal to for a long time betrays you. It's doubly shit for you because you've only just found out he was even alive still. It's not something that's going to feel less shit in a few weeks and it's also not something you can just put your life on hold for while you sort yourself out."

"Are you talking from experience," he tiredly asked, not really looking at me.

"Yes. Nothing as extreme as what you're experiencing, thank Kami. Remind me to explain to you the term gaslighting when you've got the emotional space to be really angry on someone else's behalf. It's still not something I'm entirely over and it still affects me, but carrying on with life was the best thing I could have done at the time. It's the only thing I can suggest for you."

He was quiet for a long minute, staring at his hands like they might reveal some sort of divine solution for him if he studied them hard enough. Eventually they flopped beside him and he gave a laugh that was all agony and no joy.

I winced at the sound of it, but afterward he gave me a smile without real mirth and shrugged, morbidly amused at his own defeat, "Alright then. I promised you we'd start interrogation practice after your birthday, didn't I? We'll start tomorrow after your apprenticeship, and then afterward I'll get in contact with the others so we can put a time aside to meet up soon."

It wasn't exactly what I'd been hoping for, but I was aware that it was more than I myself could have given if I'd been in his position. DFB had been a strong support for me so many times while I struggled and I figured this time I could do the same.

This wasn't something he was just going to get over, and whatever he needed from me I'd do my best to provide. Just like he was always there for me, I would be there for him.

Even if 'being there' meant letting him excise his emotions out on me during interrogation.

What did you think of Sonaru and Lee's reaction to each other? What about Kakashi's reaction to the truth about Obito?

What do you think will change about Kakashi's approach to teaching now he knows about Naruto's importance and Sasuke's potential betrayal? What about his perception of Obito in the long term?

Honestly I could have done a whole chapter or two just on Sonaru telling them what she remembered and the others reacting to it, but first of all it's rehashing what everyone who's seen Naruto or read enough canon-accurate fics already knows, and secondly I just really wanted to move onto the next bit.

That's not to say I won't have Sonaru and the others talk about what she's told them and their thoughts and feelings on things/how it's changed their perception on their own lives, but I chose to go with their reactions to her info in the long term. Mostly since if I wrote immediate reactions I'd have to keep writing it in real time and that would be a really long conversation.

With their long term reactions I can have multiple convos spread out and bigger impact on the characters over time. Plus it gives me a chance to dot in and out of different povs during different scenarios.