It was a pleasant surprise for Obito to receive a little Hokage hat trinket from a little kid barely even reaching his hip. He was a cute little kid with a muted-red ladybug backpack high on his back and blue to white hair.
He was really cute.
Obito snickered, I sound like Rin-chan, he thought, before he jogged after the kid that got shy and ran to the forest.
He would be lying if he said he didn't feel pressured. He'd be the one to blame and take responsibility if the kid ever gotten hurt. To think that the kid was also saying he'd become Hokage one day. Talk about pure, surreal innocence. He almost squeezed the poor child, if not for the possibility of Bakashi silently watching him interact with the child, for sure wondering why the kid gave him something.
He knew the kid, and he was damn sure almost everyone in Konoha do. The kid was a supposed 'prodigy' and to top that all off, he was from that rich clan. Son of the current clan head too. Lucky kid.
Anyways, back to the issue, they were somewhere in the forest. He knew this part as the 'more dangerous' part of the forest, as it was the border between the training grounds and the Forest of Death. Some animals that are labeled dangerous even for ninja are found here, and he was lucky the sun was only setting.
The last time he was here he was left to fend for himself alone in the night by some drunk chūnin that told him some stuff he can't even remember. He remember he was so excited that someone was going to take care of him and finally experience love but nah.
A branch snapped from a few meters away from the both of them and the older tensed up. He got a kunai from his pouch and positioned himself behind the child, an arm wrapping around the kid loosely in preparation to flee if it was a hostile presence. The kid was surprisingly calm and was oddly ready, pulling out his own kunai (the ones issued at the Academy, heavy weight enough to be of good practice in throwing but thin enough not to be used in a kunai to kunai fight.) before positioning himself in a stance. He swore he heard something buzz and fizzle but he ignored that and strained his ears to detect foreign sounds. A few seconds passed and he was ready to drop his kunai and stance, but decided against it in the last second.
If he was tensed before, he was really tensed now. It was impossible for the kid to make such sound. Imagine a kid growling?
The kid obviously heard it too as he began to tighten his hold on his kunai. Obito frowned at that as he squeezed the kid's shoulder in an attempt to say 'I'm here, don't worry' and to calm the child down.
The Forest of Death was exactly what it was called. It was home to many deadly animals, all very much able to maul or kill even a low chūnin. He adjusted his grip and strained his ears once again. His heart was beating so loudly, he didn't register the moment the kid threw his own kunai and hit something.
He craned his head and saw a black toad about the size of a small bulldog with a kunai cleanly embedded on its body. Wait, a toad? A toad growled? He was too late as he felt the searing pain travel up his right thigh.
He stabbed it and carried the child up to a place faraway from the now dead toads. He cursed himself for not learning tree walking quick enough. He ran and threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached to the horde of toads now croaking and chasing after them. The kid on his arms squeaked and held onto Obito for dear life as he grit his teeth through the pain.
He can't feel anything on his right hip down to his right foot other than pain and pain. He ran faster, making sure to check if the kid got any bites on him, discreetly. His right arm was starting to become painful too, and it was beginning to hurt to hold the kid and run at the same time. Tears were blurring his eyes as he stabbed another kunai on to another toad that almost bit the kid in an ambush.
Shit, they were surrounded. They ended up deeper in the forest.
The kid was, in all fairness, still calm and collected, as though he was safe with Obito. If only I was as good as Kakashi— what am I saying?! I'm good too! He was confused as to why the kid started going through a sequence of handsigns he had yet to see. Then he felt it.
The heat was the first thing he felt. Then he heard the dying croaks and smelt the toasting organs. Then he saw it.
It was a beautiful cloud of gas, fire and acid. It was swirling at the base, toads dropping left, right and center. The acid swirled around and cooked toads and trees it could reach, the gas melted trees and the ones that seemed to inhale inside the cloud, and those that got licked by the fire became food for the vultures. It was a beautiful mix of black and bright yellow, and a blue hue occasionally covering the base for a few seconds. He swore there was some chemical like smell in the air. It was an overkill jutsu for a bunch of poisonous, carnivorous toads.
It was terrifying.
The aftershock of the jutsu came like a tsunami, as the shockwave from the fairly compressed but dangerous fire/chemical jutsu (whatever it was) boomed and spread throughout the forest, bursting his eardrums and knocking his sense of balance off, knocking both trees and the duo lots of feet back. It hit them squarely and Obito wondered when the hell people where going to investigate. He used his body to cover the kid, his back getting cooked in the process. He didn't register the pain yet, as the kid had curled up and he was getting concerned because the chemical smell made him woozy and it was like he was seeing things. No doubt it would affect the kid more.
The pain of his right side never left him, but the moment his mind got to process the pain on his back too, it was like he went into an overload. He thought he was seeing things. He thought he was feeling things. He thought the kid morphed into a girl for a second and he didn't know whether to pass out with his eyes open or pass out with it closed so he could pretend he didn't see a smile on the kid's face.
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Ninja and civilians alike looked on to see a huge fire (?) jutsu form a mushroom that incinerated a large portion of the forest. From the Hokage Tower, it looked huge, and it probably was too, considering it was a few kilometers away but still looked daunting. Hiruzen rubbed his eyes the moment his eyes landed on it and sent his ANBU and a few jōnin in the fray to see if there was an enemy confrontation that resulted in that scale of an attack. He was sure it wasn't a fire jutsu, else he'd have seen it be used even once in his lifetime.
He wanted to rush there too, curiosity trying to best him in their game of "Look but don't inspect". He so badly wanted to go there himself, but he was sure his ANBU could protect themselves. He lost the game. He went out of the Tower clad in his battle armour, a few of the ANBU rushing out behind him.
He raced towards the half-incinerated forest and arrived just thirty minutes after. There was already a few jōnin and ANBU setting up perimeters and blocking off any escape routes in case of enemy escaping. Minato was frantic and rushed over to where he was standing, a frown etched into his lips.
"Hokage-sama! I-I've found this! This is Ken's bag!" He said and showed the older one the half-burnt ladybug bag with a few scorched wads of cash and a plastic of ramen and what looked like trinkets. The Hokage straightened up more and went over to investigate the carcasses or cooked toads.
In the far right of where they were standing, there was a huge circle of blackened soil and a bunch of dead toads just littering the ground. There were few that were half-melted, half-burnt but they can investigate the toads later. The strong, heavy smell of chemical was thick in the air and it made the Hokage's head ache. It was hell in the forest.
An ANBU appeared in front of the two and gave the Hokage a kunai with a scorched handle, signifying a heavy duty explosive tag had been attached. He was also carrying standard ninja kunai and one Academy-issued.
"The Academy-issued kunai was found cleanly lodged on a toad's throat, attacker may be an experienced ninja." He reported as he disappeared.
Minato quickly turned to the God of Shinobi, eyes wide and more frantic than before.
"Calm down, Minato. I'm sure we would capture the culprit." He said, more to himself than to the man panicking infront of him.
"Minato-san! One of your students is here! He's unconscious!" A jōnin shouted deep inside the forest, kneeling infront of a passed out pair of children.
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Minato never moved so fast in his life. He staggered a little bit as he knelt down in front of Obito, his body reeking of cooked flesh. He checked for a pulse and if he weren't kneeling already, he would've lost strength in his knees. Obito was alive, face in utter pain as his back was thoroughly cooked. But he's alive, so that's all that matters.
A medic-nin rushed to where his student lay, immediately working on the burnt flesh. Minato released a deep exhale, shaky hands finding the unscathed child Obito's passed out body refused to let go of. His student's arm was tightly wrapped around the child's waist, the passed out child caged safely by Obito's body.
"Thank god, you're alive." He said and wiped Obito's sweaty and dirty face, an ANBU revealing his presence behind him.
Ah, so this is Kazuhiko. The "Black Masked ANBU" in the Hokage's ranks. He was the only one given a black mask made personally by the Third.
He wondered why the guy even bothered to use his ANBU uniform and mask when everyone knows who he is. Who wouldn't recognise him anyways? The guy was always doing the dirtiest of the dirtiest missions for Konoha. Basically, the high death rate/ suicide missions. Maybe it's his clothes.
He dropped to his knees beside Minato and untangled his brother from the other's student carefully. He hugged the child close to his chest and murmured his thanks to the gods over and over.
He rocked the unconscious child in his arms and turned to Minato, laying his brother comfortable on the ground, before bowing and thanking both Minato and Obito, forehead touching the forest soil.
He shuffled next to the medic nin, before extending out his hands and fixing Obito's back. It made the healing process much faster, and by the end of it, Obito was visibly in much less pain.
"What was Ushijima Ken doing all alone? It is a Village Law that all children below 4 are never to be left alone at any time of day, more so since he is under Village Act #9358, 'All Clan head children must be always be within eyesight of a certified ninja, no lower than chūnin.' It is implemented to prevent any kidnapping accusations against the other clans." Someone said as they both heard a gruff voice clearing their throat.
"Hokage-sama! Is Obito alright?!" Minato heard the loud voice of Kushina, waving his arms wide for her to see where Obito lay. She ran past the Hokage, making everyone part and make a path for her. Immediately, she was kneeling next to Obito, hand pushing his hair away from his face.
"What happened?! Is this kid the one from earlier?!" She asked Minato as she cradled the now healed Obito unto her lap.
"Kushina-san..." The Hokage said softly as he once again cleared his throat.
"Permission to speak, Hokage-sama." The Black Masked ANBU said quietly, hand on his knee as he kneeled at the Hokage's side. The Hokage gave a hum of permission and the ANBU cleared his throat.
"The chakra spread upon the forest is most likely my brother's. Judging from his low chakra, he may have accidentally released an overkill, deformed fireball. The fire may be a desperate attempt to kill the toads chasing after them. The genin may or may not have a participation in the use of an explosive tag." He said in a tone that screamed 'This is a report but my brother is involved someone calm me down'. He released a long exhale after he finished his input.
"We will wait for Obito-kun to wake up first before we consider that. Take the children to the Hospital and put them in the Restricted Ward. Kushina and Kuro are to be posted there. Let no one, even a doctor, unless I go with them, inside the ward. Dismissed." ANBU and jōnin alike dispersed and only four people other than the children were left visible in the half-burnt forest.
The Hokage massaged his temples, mind racing almost 100 kph, thinking about what would happen if it really was the Ushijima kid who'd called upon such a deadly jutsu by accident. Imagine the destruction the kid could do if he really wanted to bring it upon someone. Imagine the kid if he was enraged.
Hiruzen didn't want to imagine it. He could picture Danzō drooling over the child's powers though, the fool thought he didn't know of his obsession with 'Konoha'. Konoha, his ass. The man was power-hungry, that much was obvious. He only listened to him because he'd been of help a couple of times in the past.
He heaved a long sigh and directed Minato to come with him, leaving the ANBU and Kushina to bring the children to the Hospital. His steps were heavy, like he was tired, which he was. He had been pulling all-nighters for almost two weeks now and he'd either be bed-ridden or at the hospital if it were not for soldier pills he'd properly abused. He was almost finished with his preparations for his successor.
He and his companion arrived at their destination, feet coming to a halt. The Village Hidden in the Leaves so vast when you overlook it from the Hokage Mountain.
It may be a bad time to do this, but Hiruzen knew he was growing old and weak.
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Everything was black. Again. Ken was beginning to get pissed off. He wriggled his body and found he was still alive. Phew? He wriggled his fingers, trying to feel if he's been put on IV or something. Why did he not have an IV? This hospital is shit.
He facepalmed. 'Of course they don't have an IV on you, you just drained your chakra.' He thought to himself and he let out a snort. He heard someone cough and he automatically played dead.
"Hey, Ken. I know you're awake, so don't bother playing dead." A voice quipped and before he could retort, something was taken off of his face. His eyes blinked for a few seconds, widening in shock. Holy moly, why is Kazu a black outline and what are those green stuff on his body?!
"Azu? What happen?" He rasped as he felt the thirst and the dryness of his throat. He rubbed his parched throat and Kazu was quick to give him water.
"Well, your overkill jutsu happened. Be thankful you're even alive." His brother chastised as he made Ken drink chakra-infused water. Ken deadpanned and went with a small smug smile.
"I can't believe you, Ken. You almost die of chakra exhaustion and you have the guts to be smug?" Kazu looked at him incredulously, like he just blew up a large place and shruged it off. Oh wait...
"Obito-san?" He asked, question unsaid but answered nonetheless.
"He got a nasty burn on his back, but nothing the medics couldn't heal." Kazu said, eyes searching Ken. For what? Ken didn't know.
A few minutes past and Ken enjoyed the silence. His brother seemed to be deep in thought and Ken didn't want to interrupt. He closed his eyes once again, only remembering the next night and forgetting one important thing.
"Say, Ken? I'll be honest with you." He hummed and Kazu cleared his throat.
"The doctors said your brain was okay, and your chakra coils too. There's one thing though. No, actually, not just one." Ken opened his eyes and he stared at Kazu. Mother of patatas, was his cover blown?!
"Kazu?" asked Ken, confused.
Kazuhiko took that as a sign to continue.
"Your brain developed thrice as fast as normal children, and they doubt it's going to stop rapidly developing anytime soon. That would explain the rate you're learning stuff. Even your chakra coils too, some of them even thought your coils were inflamed, because it was just so big and wide for a kid. Maybe that would explain why you're so smart and quick to adapt." Kazuhiko said the last sentence more to himself than his brother.
"Also, they saw another kikai attached to the coil on your stomach, but this time they said it wasn't doing anything, it was just there, so don't worry. What else, ah! Ma sent one of her summons earlier, and she told me Ma was fuming at home. She said, and I quote, 'Ushijima Ken will not leave the compound without the supervision of atleast two chūnin if he wants to play. Tears be damned. Kindly tell him that." Ken facepalmed as he listened to the last part. Now he can't explore on his own.
"I mean I agree with her, Ken. You are worth millions of ryo in ransom." He reasoned and lean back on his chair, the little stool dangerously standing on one leg, but gravity didn't seem to want to pull on his brother.
"So, any questions?"
"Is my head gon' be bigger because my brain is bigger?"
"It's already pretty big though?"
Kazuhiko went home with a big scratch on his arm after that.
彡
Cut! Hey there! The next chapters will slowly drop canon stuff so it'll ease just right into canon plotline, please be patient! Also, thank you to everyone for commenting on here! I really, really, really appreciate it! I don't know why I don't get alerts when you do, but still! Thank you!
じゃね!
