What's this? An update that didn't take 5+ months to get here?! Is this a joke?!
I assure you now, it's not.
Granted, it might not be as long as others, but it's definitely an update, and the Massacre to boot (notice the caps, means it's important, it does). I think it goes without saying that this chapter will be Obito centered. Minato plays a fatherly part in this, seeing as he cares for his kids and he's the only adult there that could really help him. Sadly, Kakashi and Rin won't have much here, but rest assured they will have their own time to shine (Kakashi seeing older Kakashi is a scene I have been dying to write).
Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Please read on and enjoy.
Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. The idea for this fan fiction is.
Chapter 4
Minato raced down the streets, cursing the fact that his body refused to go any faster and wishing that he could fly. Perhaps he could, considering the current state of his body, but exploring that possibility would have to wait.
Right now he had something much more important to deal with.
The scream continued to echo in his mind as he ran. It was heart-wrenching and full of so many different emotions that it had frozen him in place for a few moments when he realized who it was.
Obito never screamed like that.
His mind raced to find reason to the cry, but as he continued to think, the more his worry increased. Each thought gradually became worse until he decided it would be better not to think on it at all and focus solely on finding his student. Hopefully, he was still where he'd told them he'd be. Obito wasn't one to stay in one place for very long.
'But to have screamed like that…I don't think he's gone anywhere.'
He couldn't help but feel a rush of relief as the walls of the Uchiha estate came into view. It lasted for a fleeting second before his senses alerted him to what was wrong.
Everything was still and silent.
For a family as large as the Uchiha, such a thing was abnormal, even into the later hours of the night. There was always the slight shift of movement from the night guards, or the sounds of activity coming from the house of one who could not sleep. But this…
This was unsettling.
Not wanting to waste another second, he ran straight through the walls…
And froze to stare in shock at the scene before him.
"W-What?!…How-?!"
It was carnage not unlike that he'd been seeing more and more of in the war, but it was definitely a sight he'd dearly hoped he'd never see within the walls of his village. Everywhere he turned, there was a body.
'Who could have done such a thing? Most of the clan members were civilians! Completely unable to defend themselves!'
Yet the bodies of the elderly…women…children…clearly lay before him, lives cut tragically short by the kunai and shuriken that were now drenched in their blood. Another scream ripped him from the scene by reminding him why he was there in the first place.
'Obito!'
He took off and began a desperate search for his student.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"So you heard it too?"
Rin nodded at Kakashi's question. The two of them had met up on the way to the Uchiha Estate and were still making their way over.
"I wonder what's wrong…"
"…He probably found out he's married, or something."
Had it been any other time, and person, Rin might've laughed, but the sole fact that it was Kakashi that made a joke had her worried. He never joked around unless he wanted to create a distraction, and even then, he would usually let Obito's natural tendencies do it for him. Even now, she could see how serious his eyes were, and how focused he seemed on their path. She smiled a bit. He would never admit it, but she knew that, somewhere, he was worried for their teammate.
"…Yea, commitment of that level sounds like something he'd scream about."
She was given a rare smile in response. It was hard to mistake for anything else when his eyes crinkled up slightly like that. Unfortunately, the rest of their trip was spent in silence, although another scream made them pick up their pace. When they arrived at the gates of the estate, they wasted no time and ran right through.
Kakashi had to steady Rin as she gasped and stumbled back, doing his best to ignore his own feeling of nausea that had risen upon entering.
"I think I'm going to be sick…"
Rin was as white as a sheet, and her eyes were shining with unshed tears.
"Who-…Who would do something like this," she asked weakly. "Why would they do something like this?"
Kakashi didn't respond. Suddenly, her eyes widened.
"Obito! We have to find him!"
Both of them took off immediately.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Minato was the first to find Obito.
He was just sitting there, in the middle of one of the roads, next to the form of a small boy, head bowed and staring blankly at the dirt.
"…Obito?"
Obito jerked horribly then looked up…
…and Minato felt his heart break.
Gone was his ever cheerful student that never failed to make him laugh. In his place was a boy who looked so completely and utterly lost that it brought tears to his eyes. Obito mumbled something and looked back at the boy on the floor.
"What?"
"…I-…I couldn't stop him," he whispered faintly before screwing his eyes shut and biting back a sob. "I-I tried and I tried, b-but he just kept going…kept k-killing-"
Minato's eyes widened in horror. He'd seen this massacre take place?!
"I couldn't save them," he cried. "I couldn't do anything! Just watch as he-…as he-…"
He trailed off and completely broke down, his wails of grief twisting Minato's heart even further.
"Oh, Obito…"
He wasted no time in dropping to the ground and taking his student into a firm embrace. It was about the only thing he could do. Every word of comfort he thought of felt weak and empty when put up against the magnitude of the loss. So, he just brought him even closer in the hopes that it would help ease at least a little of the pain.
This was the scene that Kakashi and Rin came across.
They stood off to the side, watching helplessly as Obito clung desperately to Minato and continued to cry in anguish. Even Kakashi, who would normally berate his teammate for showing emotions, was oddly subdued. Minato spotted them and signaled for them to come closer.
In times like these, he knew how important having your team there for you could be.
"Come on," he said gently once they arrived. "We should get him out of here."
"No!"
They jumped at Obito's sudden exclamation.
"I'm not leaving him! He's still alive!"
"Who-?"
"Sasuke!"
He broke free and was slumped protectively over the one they assumed to be Sasuke in moments. His team took note of the child's glazed eyes and exchanged uneasy glances.
"Obito…I don't think-"
"He's alive! Sasuke's alive!…He has to be!"
Rin looked up at Minato, clearly frightened at Obito's current behavior. Minato had similar sentiments, though he was more alarmed by his reaction than anything. It seemed that reality had finally caught up to Obito, and he was now entering the more dangerous stages of shock. Already he could hear his breathing becoming rapid and irregular, and see how pale and sweaty he was. He knelt down and placed his hands on Obito's shoulders.
"Obito. Obito look at me."
A pair of dark eyes met his briefly before darting away.
"I said look at me," he commanded sternly.
Once he was sure he had his attention, he continued.
"You need to calm down, Obito. Take a deep breath."
It was obvious that an effort was made, but he was back to breathing shallowly in seconds. Minato brought him into his arms again and began running a hand through Obito's hair in a soothing gesture.
"It's going to be okay," he said softly. "I promise."
He would do whatever it took to keep this from happening. He may not have been on the best terms with the clan head, but this was a fate he'd never wish on anyone. Slowly, his actions managed to bring Obito out of his panic. His breathing evened out, and his face was returning to normal, although he made no move to get out of Minato's hold.
The sound of approaching footsteps caused three heads to turn and see an approaching jônin. He stopped right beside Sasuke and crouched down to examine him, his eyes widening slightly after a moment.
"Atsuko! I've got one!"
Another jônin was at his side momentarily.
"Thank goodness," she breathed out in relief. "I was beginning to think we wouldn't find anyone."
She also bent down to inspect him, but her hands glowed a faint green as she did so.
"That's Fugaku-sama's youngest, isn't it? Sasuke?"
"Yes," she replied absently.
"Poor kid," he said sadly. "This is going to haunt him for the rest of his life."
"If he survives, you mean. His brain is showing severe levels of stress. My guess is that he was hit with an extremely powerful genjutsu, or something to that extent."
"Then the rumors are true?! Uchiha Itachi really did learn some terrible technique and killed his clan?!"
Both sensei and students felt their eyes widen. They couldn't help but know who Itachi was, seeing as Obito was constantly complaining about him, but that couldn't be! Why would he kill his own blood? His family?!
The way Obito had tensed horribly, and the way his fists had considerably tightened their grip on Minato's uniform at the mention of his cousin made them doubt.
"We don't know that for sure, Chikao, although the evidence seems pretty damning by this point. I'm sure Hokage-sama will let us know the full details later. Right now, we should get this little one to the hospital as soon as possible."
"Right."
Chikao carefully picked Sasuke off the ground while Atsuko radioed the rest of their group to tell them of their discovery. When she was done, she turned to see him with a troubled expression on his face.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing…It's just…something seems a little strange about this, doesn't it? If Itachi-san really did kill his clan, and Sasuke was here to witness it…Why…"
He trailed off uncomfortably.
"Why what?"
"Well…why didn't he just kill him too?"
He rushed to explain himself at her appalled expression.
"If he is behind this, he just annihilated one of the most powerful clans in the village. I mean, I know he's considered one of the most skilled shinobi we have, but that's a feat even our elite would have trouble with…What chance would his brother, who's still in the academy, have to beat him? Why would he give him even the slightest chance of survival, when he'd already murdered everyone else?"
"Maybe he was in a hurry."
"Then wouldn't it have been faster to just kill him instead of using a jutsu?"
"I don't know," she sighed. "But we should be glad for it."
"…I guess…Something just doesn't sit right with me about all this though…"
"Try to put it out of your mind for now. We have much more urgent matters to attend to at the moment."
She looked down at Sasuke as she said this. He nodded, and the two of them quickly made their way in the direction of the hospital.
Minato watched them go with a calculating expression on his face. A lot of what Chikao had said held merit. The situation definitely felt a little suspicious once he'd pointed it out. Killing an entire clan did seem impossible to do for one person, so he either had some outside help…
Or something foul was going on within Konoha's very walls.
The thought of this massacre being an inside job sent a wave of disgust racing through him. He hoped it didn't turn out to be the case.
Unfortunately for him, despite his best efforts to find out exactly what happened, he wouldn't learn the true story until almost a decade later.
"How is he?"
Rin's question startled him out of his thoughts. He looked down and realized with a small amount of surprise that Obito was fast asleep. The sight might have been amusing had the dried tear tracks and doleful expression not been present.
"He passed out."
"First he throws up and now he's asleep? What's he going to do next? Go to the bathroom?"
He probably shouldn't have found it as funny as he did, but the comment was so out of place and so…absurd considering what just happened (and who it came from), that Minato found himself laughing. He did earn some odd looks, but he brushed them off.
"I wouldn't push it, if I were you. He might end up doing just that."
"Eww! Sensei!"
He sent Rin a grin that slowly faded as the moment passed. The mood was lighter than before, but he knew that this wasn't something that could be forgotten easily. Why it had to happen to Obito of all people, he wasn't sure. He was a good kid with a big heart. He didn't deserve to have this happen to him.
Right?
A scratchy voice floated faintly in his mind, along with the sorrowful expression of an old woman as she looked at his student.
With this scroll, you can alter the course that Fate has set before you…Especially you, young Uchiha.
Her words seemed much more foreboding now. It made him wonder just how much they'd be forced to witness before they returned. If what he'd seen so far was anything to go by…
Knowing the future really was a terrible thing, he decided. For the first time since they'd arrived, he wished that they'd never gotten the damn scroll in the first place.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo Chapter End
Stay tuned for a special treat at the end of the author's notes.
*head hits desk*
That chapter didn't come out how I wanted it to. It's okay, I guess, but…I don't know…I felt like it could've been better, you know? It's bugging me.
But if you liked it, hey, that's great. This might just be a result of my own criticism and it actually turned out to be super awesome.
Yea, I'm just so modest, aren't I?
Anyway, I bet some of you weren't expecting that, were you? Though some of you definitely speculated on it. Obito actually saw Itachi, his little kid cousin, killing everyone in the clan. I know that now some of you are probably upset that I didn't show him during the act but worry not, I will actually write that out. I'm saving it for later.
You must hate me for that, huh?
I hope Obito's reaction was believable. I was a bit hesitant to have him go into shock, and even now I hope I didn't screw up on the symptoms. I did some research, but the webpages I found only briefly covered psychological shock and barely told you how to deal with it. I guess I understand that considering it's physiological shock that's the worse of the two, but let's face it, the first can still be pretty bad. Ninja or not, he's still a kid. A kid that just saw his whole family killed right in front of his eyes without being able to do a thing. I think that would get to anyone.
That aside, I hope you enjoyed. Let's hope I can get the next one up even faster, right? I'm definitely feeling a renewed love for the series again, that more recent chapters of the manga didn't help increase at all. I'm frustrated as hell with it actually.
Stupid Sasuke…
No offense to Sasuke fans, but I really don't like the guy. I promise I won't bash on him in this story, because even though I may not like him, I hate it when authors bash on certain characters instead of focusing on the plot. I even made you feel kind of bad for him in this chapter, right? Yup, Sasuke will remain the way he is.
Ehh…sorry, kind of went off on a tangent there.
Anyway, the honor of my renewed inspiration goes to the Kakashi Gaiden episode, that I happened to watch yet again. It is my absolute favorite episode to date, despite making me cry every time I watch it. You should thank it. It makes me feel like writing fifty chapters for this (whether I do or not remains to be seen).
I'm going to cut this AN now. It's long enough. Until next time! Take care!
Thank you for waiting patiently, here's your reward. I felt you guys might need a little humor after this chapter.
::Omake::
"So you heard it too?"
Rin nodded at Kakashi's question. The two of them had met up on the way to the Uchiha Estate and were still making their way over.
"I wonder what's wrong…"
"…He probably found out he's married, or something."
Had it been any other time, and person, Rin might've laughed, but the sole fact that it was Kakashi that made a joke had her worried. He never joked around unless he wanted to create a distraction, and even then, he would usually let Obito's natural tendencies do it for him. Even now, she could see how serious his eyes were, and how focused he seemed on their path. She smiled a bit. He would never admit it, but she knew that, somewhere, he was worried for their teammate.
"…Yea, commitment of that level sounds like something he'd scream about."
She was given a rare smile in response. It was hard to mistake for anything else when his eyes crinkled up slightly like that. Unfortunately, the rest of their trip was spent in silence, although another scream made them pick up their pace. When they arrived at the gates of the estate, they wasted no time and ran right through.
Kakashi had to steady Rin as she gasped and stumbled back, doing his best to ignore his own feeling of nausea that had risen upon entering.
"I think I'm going to be sick…"
Rin was as white as a sheet, and her eyes were shining with unshed tears.
The streets of the Uchiha Estate were littered with them.
"Why would he do this, Sensei?!"
They spotted Obito bawling his eyes out next to an irritated Minato.
"Has he no shame?! How did he manage to get them to agree to Jiraiya Day?!"
A large banner hung right above the two, it's large green letters mocking them just as much as the dozens of posters that held the same, leering face in all of them. To top it all off, the clan members were all happily walking around in outfits identical to the Sannin.
The man in question was standing on a fountain in the middle of a large square. Soaking it in while Uchiha women crowded around him. All of them were clamoring for his attention, but one scream rose above all the rest.
"Jiraiya-sama! Let me have your babies!"
Obito screamed in horror and fainted, foaming at the mouth.
"Let's get out of here," Kakashi hastily shouted, face green.
"What about Obito?!"
"Leave him! It's too late now!"
Rin didn't need to be told twice. This was too horrible for words! The two of them quickly turned around and were gone in seconds. Minato watched them go, then closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten.
It didn't work.
"I swear I'm going to kill Sensei when I get back…"
::End::