TammyHybrid21 (C6): Did I make him seem a bit like a brat? That was complete unintentional. And yes, Sasuke did notice, because if he didn't then he wouldn't be Sasuke. And yeah, I'm cruel, aren't I? Teehee. Obito "died" when Rin and Kakashi were 13, so I just chose a later date for Obito's "death" with Rin following two or so months later.
Yeah, Kuro is cruel, isn't he? :,p You'll get more angst!Kakashi, but I believe that will be the end of it. And WHO-LY SHIT I didn't think of it that way; but then again, making the characters seem strong is eligible. I just choose a random wound and then incorporate it. The aftermath I choose. And that is 100% true. We authors are mean. Haha, thanks for your review :3
This chapters name is actually the original name of the one-shot-turned-story. I changed it, because this was ultimately centered around Obito and Obito alone, and it wouldn't have made sense to talk about more than one person when I'm centering the story around that certain individual.
Odd hour update; I usually update around 1-2:30 AM, but I uploaded this at 10:30 AM. Woo.
I also set up a deviantart account. I have yet to post anything for this story. Pen name: Toudan-no-Hyoushi.
Original word count: 3.7k~
Recommended songs: Sell Your Soul & The Loss by Hollywood Undead.
Enjoy my caliginous chapter :p
Chapter 7: The Ones Who Are Bound
Kakashi wasn't entirely sure how long he sat there with his face buried into Obito's bloody crown. He was still in shock; he never actually expected his best friend to die. He wanted the man to prosper, to live to the fullest of his life expectancy, and to have him dwell in their millions of happy moments as he died of old age.
He wanted that to happen—and yet, he stood there, injured and crying over the death of, yet again, another comrade.
Kakashi winced, realizing just how much of a failure he had become: He killed Rin, he couldn't save Minato and Kushina in the first place, and he couldn't reach out to Obito; Naruto had been the one to do that. Not him. Now Obito was truly dead—and as far as he was concerned, he had done absolutely nothing to prevent the Uchiwa's death.
His grip tightened around to dead Uchiha's head, hiding behind black hair as tears stung both his face wound and pride as a friend. He felt like the world had just ended, that it was his fault that it happened the way it did.
Probably was… Kakashi thought bitterly as he grimaced, …because I was the one who put him d—
"Sensei!"
The Hatake's thought was, thankfully, cut off; he didn't need to turn his head to know that it was Sakura. She landed in the ankle-deep slush, breathless. Her eyes landed on the scene, and she sucked in a deep breath of air, freezing in shock.
She put her hand over her mouth, tears overflowing as quickly as they came. Never had she seen so much damage done to one human being. Just from one glance—one quarter of a seconds glance—she saw the many symptoms of mental, physical and emotional trauma, stress and—obviously—fatal wounds. The bruises under his eyes—which she soon discovered that they were bags of exhaustion a moment later—screamed extreme chakra exhaustion.
Fatal, fatal, fatal.
That's all she saw when she stared at the dead Uchiha Obito in horror and sadness.
"…We…we need to get you patched up," Sakura stated quietly.
Kakashi made no physical acknowledgement. He just sat there, barely moving. One would've thought that he was dead at first glance. Only the movement of his chest betrayed that initial thought. Sakura opened her mouth to speak again, but Kakashi spoke. "…I'll be there in a bit…" he murmured. "Just give me some time."
The kunoichi paused, but simply nodded. "Don't take too long," she stated reluctantly. "I don't want you to come back with infected wounds." Without another word, she left, Shiro Zetsu and Guruguru following with an unconscious Naruto under their wings. The Zetsu clone that once stood on the alter groaned, but followed via sinking into the ground.
It left the Hatake alone in the silence, gentle but stinging winds blowing through the clearing and shimmering the slush.
The cloaked jōnin did not move for thirteen hours.
"I'm…worried," Minato stated. He frowned, glancing out to early morning sun that had just returned from its long hours of keeping the other half of the world awake from the window. "Do you think they'll be alright?"
Guruguru did not reply right away. Nobody had the heart to tell the Yondaime that another student of his had died. They knew he would take the blow pretty hard; but it wasn't only Minato that was holding them back from telling, it was also Naruto. The boy grew up around Obito—knew the man as his guardian angel, older brother and, in some odd aspect, uncle. True, Minato and Kushina also played factors in raising him, filling in the holes Obito couldn't seem to fill up no matter how hard he tried, but ultimately it was the Uchiha that had given him the most, albeit Naruto's true parents were appreciated on an equal level.
The mutated human sighed heavily, "…Beats me." If we can't tell you, Minato-kohai, then why don't you go see for yourself…? "They've taken their time…go ahead and teleport to them now."
The Namikaze gave him an odd look. "Why now? Why not earlier?"
"Because…" Guruguru replied with no amusement, which gained another odd look from the blonde, "…reasons. Now hurry up."
Minato simply sighed, charging up chakra and teleporting away barely even a half a quarter of a second later. He easily landed, his feet—up to his ankles—landing in something wet. He cringed, shivering. He looked down—
Red.
His blue eyes widened. Slush was coated in red, the crimson liquid slowly traveling throughout the cold snowy water. His eyes followed the trail of blood all the way up to a corpse, a familiar silver haired jōnin caressing the corpse's head that rested on his lap, tears streaming down his face. Splinters littered Hatake Kakashi's right hand, fingers missing from his left, and he had a slash across his face.
Uchiha Obito was no better. He was as pale as the snow, and he was covered in his own blood. There was a hole in his chest—inches away from his heart. The bruises underneath his eyes were the most noticeable. They were a deep blue, almost black, and it showed up like a black spot on a white surface. Minato cringed, his heart sinking down to his stomach and dropping to his feet from there. Vaguely—just vaguely—he saw Rin; she lays there, pale, blood flowing down from her lips to her chin, a gaping hole in her chest—
His breath hitched. Internally, he was crying. Outwardly, he was on the verge of hyperventilating from panic, grief and loss.
"K-Kaka…" he stuttered, his voice dying easily. He sighed shakily, breathing in and breathing out before repeating a minute later, "Kakashi."
The Hatake openly flinched, sniffing. And while he did not reply right away, there was no need to give instant response. His sensei's voice was soft, and sympathetic, filled with grief; just like how he asked what happened when Rin had died.
"…Shiki Fūjin…" he murmured. "Obito used it…he sealed Kuro Zetsu away…" He wasn't sure if that actually happened—Shiro Zetsu voluntarily explained what had happened.
Minato stopped thinking, as his trail of thoughts was wandering over hurt. His eyes widened. "He did what?"
Kakashi simply nodded limply, his head being tucked further in.
"That…that jutsu…" Minato muttered. "It's kinjutsu. It's not even in Fūin no Sho."
That caught Kakashi's attention. Slowly, he glanced up at Minato, his eyes red and puffy, bags of exhaustion and lines of stress making him look years older than necessary. His torn mask was damp and bloodied, and he was pale; not to mention, shivers were racketing his body. "Well…he…was trained by Madara for two years…" he pointed out slowly.
"No, no…" The Namikaze sighed heavily. He slowly shook his head. "No…that jutsu was created barely a few decades ago by Mito-sama's sister. Madara went into hiding before that."
"…Well…" Kakashi murmured, glancing down at the pale and dead Uchiha. He sniffed again, another wave of tears falling. He just didn't understand; he didn't cry as hard as he currently was when Rin died, so why was he so emotional now of all deaths? He swallowed. "…I…"
"…We need to get you back," Minato whispered. He frowned, remembering about how Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu didn't tell him right away—a full thirteen hours, he was left in the dark of a death that was only thirty fractions of a second away from him. "You need to get healed up…and Obito…"
The Hatake sniffed. "Yeah." He made no movement to get up instantly; he sighed, long, heavy and stressed. He put Obito's head down, both breathing shinobi wincing at how lifeless he was—they were used to him being lively, if only relaxing and sleeping on the couch.
Minato smiled sadly, bitterly. He picked Obito up bridal style, turning his head towards his only remaining student. "Walk or teleport?"
"Walk," Kakashi murmured. "You can go ahead. The house isn't too far from here."
The Namikaze sighed, turning and using Hiraishin to teleport away. He landed on the porch, right where Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu were waiting. They were alarmingly silent and calm, the air around them tight with sadness.
Guruguru sighed, "So, who's going to tell Naruto?"
Minato visibly slumped, looking like he was in his forties instead of thirties. "I will," he stated.
Shiro Zetsu stiffened. "What?"
Guruguru turned to him. "Did you seriously slip up?"
"Y-yes…Naruto woke up while you were getting the body bag for Uchiha-chan and I might of kind of told him," Shiro explained. "Sakura is watching over him right now, though…so…don't worry…?"
Once again, Minato slumped with depression, sighing heavily. "Morons," he grumbled. "And speaking of morons, how did Obito know of Shiki Fūjin? It's so forbidden, the knowledge of its existence is practically zero. Did Madara teach him that?"
"Madara was too self-preserved. And besides, his branches of information wasn't the greatest. Plus he was never a fūinjutsu master, despite him living up to eighty or so years," Shiro Zetsu explained. "Kuro Zetsu does not use any jutsu as such. And we are absolutely clueless as to what the hell a Fūin kanji alone can do, so…"
"Basically, no," Guruguru simplified. "Either Obito slipped past you, and gained information, or he knew of of beforehand."
Minato shook his head. "Even I didn't know of it until just a year ago."
"Well then it's a mystery," the mutated swirly masked creature stated. "We'll look into this later. Right now, we need to handle Obito and grief."
A bitter smile stretched across Minato's lips. "Yeah," he croaked, "okay."
One week later…
The funeral was small, and peaceful. Obito was cremated, his ashes sealed away into a scroll. The scroll was, then, buried underneath an oak tree he and Naruto once hung out at. It was a nostalgic sight for the boy, and everybody could see that. Each person had silently prayed, bowing respectfully with Naruto starting and Guruguru ending.
It was small, and slightly bitter, but the feeling of small hope that Obito had found peace in the afterlife was in Kakashi's mind and chest. It was not a strange feeling for him; he had hoped it for it to be the same for the rest of the entire group of Team Minato, Jiraiya and Kushina included, when they had died in his time.
And now that Obito is dead… he thought absently, how will things change?
Minato left, saying something about Hokage work. Jiraiya soon followed, heading off to town. Sakura had to leave about thirty minutes after the Sannin left because of Sarada, and Sasuke to go and…do Sasuke things. Kakashi honestly had no clue what the Uchiha did nowadays, and frankly, he didn't really want to know.
Then Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu left with Naruto, leaving only Kushina and Kakashi at the grave.
The Uzumaki was the first to speak, albeit her voice was quiet, "…Was his death…painful…for him…?"
Kakashi shook his head. "I don't know. It might've been."
Kushina sighed, putting her palms over her eyes and started rubbing them. "That moron…" she whispered. "If I could revive him completely, I would, and then beat him senseless…he'd probably die again, but then I'd just revive him, again, and then hug him to death."
The Hatake managed to smile, even if it was a sour one. But it disappeared, replaced with a thoughtful look. He sighed thoughtfully, his mind wheels spinning. "…There could be a way to revive him. Permanently," he suggested.
Kushina's head whipped towards him, her eyes red, puffy and wide. "…No," she snapped, catching on fairly quick. "Nu-huh. Not happening, Kakashi. The dead must remain dead, no matter what. If I catch you even remotely plotting to revive Obito, I'll pummel you senseless and then do it all over again when you're healed. Do I make myself clear?"
Kakashi nodded stiffly, though he knew he didn't need to "plot" to find a way.
Nagato surely has the Rin'negan by now, and that event of him having it can't be changed.
Even the gods couldn't stop it from happening, and Kakashi will get his way.
"So," Minato started awkwardly, "you'll be living with me and your mother now. That's the plan we sorted out."
Naruto flipped himself over, sitting up from lying on his stomach on the living room floor and reading a book to occupy himself. It had been about five days after the funeral—everything seemed pretty normal, but Naruto was just the opposite. He was quieter now, and he hadn't pranked since Obito's death. He mainly just read, slept, ate, trained or hung out with Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu.
He scoffed. "So, what, now I have to live with a cyclops pervert, a closet pervert who just so happens to be the great almighty Yondaime, a red head whose fist can knock a skull off of your neck with ease and an overly perverted Sannin who takes his porn way too seriously along with two idiots?"
Minato rolled his eyes, but smiled anyways. "Well, at least nothing will be boring. I assure you that much. And Jiraiya barely drops by, only once every three months. Sometimes six. And Kakashi just stays with us because he usually has nothing better to do."
"You didn't object to be a closet pervert, though, tou-chan," Naruto grumbled.
The Yondaime snickered. "Don't tell your mother."
"Don't tell me what?" Kushina asked as she walked in from the hallway with Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu in head locks underneath both of her arms.
"What your anniversary gift is," Minato stated simply and coolly. But he still looked nervous, but also had a thankful look thanks to him not facing her, as he was sitting on the couch—the furniture faced the wall.
"Well, anyways, these two idiots are going to destroy this place," Kushina stated. "Plus I like them, and I think they should come along. And they're always around Naruto. Plus they can train him with his Wood Release. But I don't know where to put them. Should we just tuck them into a closet and call it good?"
Naruto put his book down, giving it a doggy ear before climbing onto the couch next to his father. "They don't sleep, and they usually just use their room for storage for weapons and scrolls and other boring stuff. But they can just sink into the walls."
"Can they see through the walls? 'Cause I don't want them creeping on us when we're doing private stuff," Kushina said.
"They've only done that once," Naruto muttered. "Sakura-chan tracked them down and beat them senseless."
"Tobi is a good boy," Guruguru commented.
"Tobi is an idiot," Shiro shot back. "That is the last time I do anything perverted that you suggest. Haruno-chan is a terrible option, and so is Kushina-chan."
"Tobi is still a good boy."
"Shut up."
"Oh, my heart. It hurts."
"How about both of you shut it," Kushina snapped, tightening her headlock and making the two mutated creatures squeak. She smiled sweetly. "Much better. Naruto-chan, please go and pack up your stuff. I need to talk to your father about something important."
Said blonde Uzumaki frowned, but nodded anyway and wordlessly walked away. Once they heard the door click close, Kushina released Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu. She walked up to the couch, and sat next to Minato with a rare serious face. "Kakashi is getting ideas," she said.
Minato frowned. "What kind? Is it the amatory kind? Do we need to get him The Talk About Condoms? He's twenty-two for goodness's sake—"
Kushina giggled, interrupted her husband. "No, no. Not sexually." He serious face returned, "He…may try to revive Obito."
The Namikaze paused, frowning. This was new. "Why?"
"Well, it's sort of my fault," Kushina muttered. "I said that Obito was a moron, and that if I could revive him, I would and beat him senseless. And then Kakashi said that there 'might be a way to revive Obito'."
Minato's frown deepened. He turned his head towards Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu. "You two know more about history than anything. Is there a way to revive people completely?"
They were both silent, sharing wordless, expressionless and unreadable glances before Shiro Zetsu spoke up, "…Only one dōjutsu can accomplish it." "Kakashi knows what and where it is" went unspoken, only Guruguru "hearing" it. "But only one person has it, and even then, it is not his own eyes. Plus, Kakashi has no idea what and where it's at."
A complete lie.
"He won't try anything," Guruguru assured. Another lie. "And if he gets too close, we'll take care of it."
Kushina slowly nodded. "Okay," she murmured, but she didn't sound very convinced. "But I'm worried. He's breaking underneath all the pressure of losing people. And he blames himself for both Rin and Obito's deaths."
"Forget Obito, beat him senseless," Shiro Zetsu stated dryly. "Jackass, indeed."
"Uh-huh." Guruguru nodded.
"Who's a jackass?" Everybody turned their heads towards the hall. Naruto stood there, a medium sized scroll hanging at the base of his back with thin—but sturdy—ropes tied around the edges that wrapped around his shoulders. Much like the Shodai, Minato noticed.
Kushina smiled. "A donkey. Now, do we have everything we need?"
"Yup, 'ttebayo."
"I just need this scroll. And I'm all good."
"Tobi is a good boy."
"Shut up."
"Jerk."
"Moron."
"Idiot."
"Jackass."
"Asshole."
"Bitch."
"Cunt."
"Fucker."
"Shit-eating whore."
"Fuck up."
"Oh, Tobi's heart hurts. Please heal Tobi." Guruguru mockingly put his hand over the left side of his chest, mock stumbling and pretending to collapse.
Zetsu looked overly annoyed at that point.
"Okay. Watch your mouths, you two," Kushina snapped, cracking her knuckles. She grinned evilly. "It'll give me an excuse to beat you shitless."
"Hypocrite," Naruto grumbled.
"Did you say something, dattebane?"
"No. Dunno what you're talking about," he replied quickly.
Minato rolled his eyes, getting off the couch. He put his hands on Kushina and Naruto's shoulder, Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu being out under another headlock. Then, they teleported away to Konoha, leaving behind memories and what Naruto called "home".
The blood in the slush was all he needed.
He had asked Konan for a durable mask in turn for money for the ever so slightly crippled Akatsuki. What he gained was well worth it—design and all. It was a pitch black mask that not only covered ones entire face—underneath the jaw included—but it also covered the top of ones head. And while the mask covering underneath the jaw would restrain speaking, there was enough room to move ones jaw easily.
It saved trouble, and it fits one of the corpses he sought.
He pulled out the mask, studying its design. There was a singular ring on the front, three tomoe on said ring, two acting as eyeholes. In the middle of the circle was the coiling design of a snake, rectangular feathers branching off a few inches underneath the coiling snakes head. The entire design was white, making said design popping out again the black sturdy material.
It was designed for war and battle, and on the inside, it had chakra absorbent seals on the top and on the face of the head to avoid jutsu's from breaking the mask.
Specifically Rasengan.
The man grinned. No errors.
He continued walking through the dark corridor of the cave, his eyes well-adjusted to the dark. His arm fell to his side, the mask still in hand as he finally arrived at his destination to the heart of the cave. It was practically empty, save for the desk and medical supplies. Weaponry hung from walls, cloaks neatly stacked next to the desk.
Stalagmite towered and some even connecting from top to bottom, creating thin pillars. He made his way towards the other end of the heart of the cave, towards the desk. He set the mask down on the wooden table top, pulling out a scroll.
He stepped back, opening the scroll to reveal scribbles of standard storage seals. He took a step back, kneeling and putting up his index and middle fingers. He molded his chakra, and from the three seals, out came three separate DNA's. One was a vile of blood and water, another was a chunk of preserved in a skintight bag, and the last was some long strands of dark brown hair in another skintight bag tightly closed.
Another pulse of chakra later, and three corpses popped out of three other storage seals beneath the first three, all appearing on their backs. They all had fatal injuries, but it was not paid any attention to. The man simply walked up to the scroll, picking up the DNA samples.
He sped through a few hand seals, the ground rumbling as three coffins pushed their way up through invisible summoning seals. The lids fell open, the man pushing the corpses in, DNA samples following in their expected coffins. He closed the lids, the boxes falling back into the ground.
The man sighed. "Just a few more steps," he murmured to himself. And then things will get rolling.
He pulled out another mask, staring at its disturbing grin before slipping it on. He sighed again, though it was much more shaky than the first time around. His expression hardened underneath the pale mask, his arms moving to press his palms together.
Wind picked up, swirling and tampering with the dark cloak he wore. A pale, intimidating figure started to take form, the wind picking up even further. The shape's details took form, and soon enough, it showed the Shinigami.
"Shiki Fūjin: Kai!"
A slash appeared across the Shinigami's gut, spilling out one soul. But the man's own gut wound spilled blood, and he only provided a grunt of pain. The soul disappeared along with the Shinigami, but the man ignored it. He simply pulled his palms apart, panting slightly and letting himself rest for a few seconds. Already the wound was closing up.
He lifted his arms again, performing the tiger, snake, dog and dragon hand seals, ending the sequence of signs with a clap of hands. The coffins rose once again, the lids dropping for a second time.
"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei," the cloaked man murmured.
However, when they dropped, it did not reveal the original corpses as seen before.
The man smirked at the three men, three pairs of dark eyes staring at him in confusion and resentment. His smirk turned into a grin as he spoke, the giddiness not being missed in his voice, "Welcome back to the living, gentlemen."
"Fūin no Sho": "Scroll of Seals"
"Rasengan": "Spiraling Sphere"
"Shiki Fūjin": "Dead Demon Consuming Seal"
"Shiki Fūjin: Kai": "Dead Demon Consuming Seal: Release"
"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei": "Summoning: Impure Reincarnation"
That man is not Kabuto, nor is he Orochimaru.
So, who is he?
Peace! :3