The weather was incredibly misty and humid, much to Akio's annoyance. He had left the pools the previous morning and hitched a ride with Ryuu all the way to the O'ozu Island south of the Water Country and east of the Fire Country. The man, rather devil, dubbed as the 'Sea of Death' was rumored to have killed off a small town southeast of the island so that's was where Akio was headed right now. He dismounted Ryuu near the north high up on a mountain in order to remain discreet and not have any rumors scare his target to the point of fleeing for caution. Jiraya, on the other hand, was tracking down Zetsu, the last member of the Akatsuki. Unfortunately, he was having no luck whatsoever. His agents were dispersed all over the continent looking for any clues that can bring them closer to their goal. Kakashi was tasked with the protection of Naruto and both remained at the pool since it was both safe and important to Kakashi's training.
Akio dismissed his thoughts of the other and regained focus on the task at hand. He had just entered a small town whilst following the rumors that kept driving him south. He was currently near the southern border so he must be close, however now he needed something more concrete than just south. It was near nightfall so most of the townspeople where heading home for the night and had drawn curtains around their houses as they prepared for the next day. He continued walking down the road hoping to find an inn. He passed a small fruit stand whose owner was packing up his merchandise in a good sized wooden wagon tied to a horse.
"Excuse me," Akio interrupted the man's work "Do you mind if you can tell me where I might find the nearest inn?"
The man stopped carting fruit unto the wagon and moved his bangs out of the way, "I'm afraid I can't help you since there is no inn in this town."
"Are you serious?" Akio asked in shock not having come so far south before.
"This island isn't a touristic location," the man verified "We keep mostly to ourselves and the only people who come here are either relatives or travelling craftsmen."
"Guess I'll camp then," Akio shrugged not really minding.
"If you want you can sleep the night at my place," the man offered politely as he bent down to lift a crate of apples.
"I don't want to trouble you," Akio replied politely although he hoped the man would insist since he figured this man might know something about the rumors of the 'Sea of Death'.
"It's no trouble," the man said "I live with my wife and two children near the outskirts of town."
"Thank you so much," Akio bowed his head a bit in appreciation.
"Don't mention it," the man replied as he dumped the last crate in the wagon. Akio climbed up to join him at the small plank that protruded from the wagon and designed as a sitting area for three at most.
"Let's go home, Hikari," the man told the horse before he grabbed the reins and started the road to home.
"What's your name?" the man asked him.
"Akio, pleasure to meet you," Akio replied not bothering to give him his full name as secrecy was a weapon after all.
"My name's Satoshi," the man introduced in kind "What are you doing all the way in the O'ozu Island?"
"I want to visit the Todoroki Shrine," Akio relayed the same excuse he has been using for the entire time he had been in the large island.
"I wouldn't go there if I were you," Satoshi warned him.
Akio raised his eyebrows in a question manner, "Could this man actually know something?" he thought.
"A small town near the shrine was massacred about six days ago, the land needs to be cleansed," Satoshi said gravely.
"I didn't hear about that," Akio feigned shock.
"Like I said, we keep mostly to ourselves and people don't bother looking around here, so nobody outside the island would know," Satoshi replied.
"Other than my agents," Akio retorted mentally.
"It happens from time to time," he plowed on "our religion states that there is a deity that comes to punish us whenever the sins of our people anger it."
"How long is often?" Akio asked curiously.
"Usually every five years but there are times where we have gone ten years without reappearance, it is said that when that happens, the deity is feeling merciful and forgiving," Satoshi replied with a bit of fear in his voice, "I always worry that the sins of other will force my family to pay the price."
"Are the people here that terrible?" Akio asked. Although from what he heard, if people think that this man is actually a divinity that is purging their lands from evil, no wonder people around the continent ever heard of him. Nobody would bother with the goings on around here and nobody from the island thinks that this is something that can be dealt with, rather a religious event.
"We have the same sins of other countries, however, unlike the others; our deities haven't abandoned us like they have the ninja world, whose earth is overrun with the blood of dead souls," Satoshi said patiently "That is why the divines are harsh on us; they do not want us to become as heartless as shinobi."
With that, both men fell silent. Akio was disgusted with whoever this 'Sea of Death' was. He used the island's culture to hide his tracks knowing they would keep his secret, his heinous deeds made the islanders come to believe in a new faith and he had caused the islanders of O'ozu Island to live in worry about what town would go every five years. It was despicable. Hopefully, Akio will be able to end their suffering.
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Jiraya suppressed a sigh as he left another dead-end town. He knew Zetsu wouldn't be in a city or town but he was searching for any whispers about odd events. He had disregarded searching the Lightening and Wind countries since with the new alliance that was forged to defeat the Akatsuki compelled every ally to relay all information regarding Akatsuki. However, all three countries have failed to locate him so Jiraya figured there was a higher chance for him to be abroad.
That was why Jiraya was currently travelling in the earth country and he hated it. Because Konoha won the Third Great Shinobi War by defeating the stone in the fight at the Kannabi Bridge, the Earth Country were still cold towards any Konoha ninja. Jiraya wondered what would happen if Minato walked inside the country, or Kakashi. They'd both probably have an uproar at their hands, Minato for killing more Iwa shinobi then anyone else and Kakashi for destroying the bridge.
Jiraya reached the neighboring town fairly quickly and prayed that this town would have any useful information but knew the chances were not likely. "I should have left this for Akio and gone after the 'Sea of Death'" Jiraya sighed in misery.
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Kakashi was currently lying down under a tree near the pools listening to Naruto train in wind manipulation. Knowing he had helped Naruto as much as could for the time being, Kakashi reluctantly sat up and approached the pool once more to continue training. He had a feeling that Obito's death was coming up and had been delaying the inevitable. But since nobody was around and Naruto was too busy, at least he could get through this privately.
With a large amount of dread, Kakashi sent a ripple of chakra into the pool and waited. True enough, it was the memory of his first mission as jounin. Kakashi, having memorized this recollection, decided to tune it out and let it play without paying attention to his worst memory.
Unbeknownst to him, Naruto heard the sound of ninja fighting and whipped around ready to fight any invaders. When he saw his sensei sitting at the base of the pool he realized that his sensei was going through another memory.
"I wonder if Kakashi sensei is still a kid in the memories?" Naruto wondered aloud. As he heard more fighting, he felt curious "Was Kakashi sensei strong as a child?" he thought and his face then split into a wide grin, "I'm going to find out!"
He walked towards his sensei but he didn't pay him any attention, Naruto took that as permission to look at the memory rather than the fact that his sensei was zoning out deeply. He turned his gaze to the pool and saw his sensei tell an enemy that the sword he was carrying was a memento from his father." Looks like the White Fang was a really big deal after all" he thought. Naruto watched as the two boys, one he figured to be his sensei's teammate, try to locate the enemy. Kakashi was the first to pinpoint him but he was already behind the black haired boy. The enemy tried to slash the black haired boy fatally but his sensei jumped in the way and lost his left eye as a result.
"So that's how…" Naruto whispered quietly as he saw Kakashi's teammate panic at his injury and Kakashi clutching his eye in pain as fresh blood seeped through his fingers.
"Dirt in your eyes again, shinobi don't cry, I'm not dead yet," Kakashi said and Naruto couldn't help but laugh a little at how his sensei was really calm despite the pinch they were in, that was so like him.
The enemy still hadn't attacked again and both boys were on their guard. That changed quickly and Naruto saw Kakashi's teammate spin and stab the enemy with a kunai, his eyes were undoubtedly red with two tomoes in each eye.
"Sharingan!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise "sensei's teammate was an Uchiha? But then does that mean…?" he turned to his sensei for answers but he was still not paying attention to anything. Confused, Kakashi looked closely and noticed that his sensei appeared to be staring through the pool and wasn't even watching the memory! Naruto debated whether to shake his sensei out of his stupor but figured that Kakashi knew what he was doing. Reluctantly he went back to the memory to find his sensei standing up after being patched up.
The two boys entered the cave and used great teamwork to intercept the enemy. Naruto watched as Kakahsi released his female teammate from a genjutsu then her binds. Before they could leave, however, the enemy used an earth jutsu to cause the cave to collapse around them. They ran to the exit but something a rock hit his sensei from the blind side and the memory faded out.
The memory focused again as he saw his sensei sit up taking in his surroundings. What Naruto saw filled him up with a dread, the Uchiha was crushed under a rock, his right side completely buried under the rock. His sensei and other teammate cried his name in despair and Naruto clutch his heart in pain. He now understood what happened, Obito seemed to have pushed his sensei to safety and was crushed instead. This reminded him of the time Sasuke saved him from Haku and fell and it felt just as painful as last time.
Kakashi was pushing at the rock with all his might but Naruto knew it was useless, even Sakura's skill as a medic now couldn't stop someone form dying after half of him was crushed. Obito knew it too because he was telling Kakashi to stop as he was as good as dead. The female started crying while Kakashi stepped away from the boulder and pounded his fist unto the floor.
"I… from the beginning, if I'd gone with what you said and went with you to rescue Rin… something like this wouldn't have happened!" Kakashi shook in agony.
Naruto startled at the sentence, "Kakashi sensei wanted to abandon his teammate? But this is Kakashi sensei…how… why?"
Naruto shook his head and decided to contemplate about it later. Obito was talking about giving Kakashi a gift for making jounin and Naruto wondered whether now was the time to talk about trivial things like that. All those thoughts rushed out his head when Obito said he wanted to give Kakashi his sharingan.
Naruto saw the hesitation in Kakashi's eye about accepting the eye and Naruto smiled sadly. Now that he thought about it, having the sharingan would just remind his sensei of his friend's sacrifice and the guilt that it was Kakashi's life Obito was saving when he lost his own. It wasn't exactly something one would want in these circumstances.
"I'm already… going to die," Obito said with a strained voice, "but... I can become your eye… and from now on I will see the future."
"That's a much better way to look at it," Naruto nodded.
Kakashi closed his eye, but when he opened it, it was filled with determination and the surgery took place. Naruto turned away when Rin started prying each boy's eye out, Obito didn't react and Naruto figured his nerves were already dead, but Kakashi was grunting in pain and Naruto shuddered. When Rin declared the transplant done, Naruto went back to the memory hoping never to have to see another operation take place on people who were awake again.
Kakashi blew up the roof of the cave engaged the enemy again. Naruto couldn't help but feel a small pang of sadness as he watched the invaluable keepsake Kakashi had from his father break. But that didn't stop Kakashi in the slightest and he charged up a chidori and rushed back at the enemy, making sure that Obito was the last life he took.
Reinforcements arrived and they cast another earth jutsu that collapsed the cave even more. Kakashi and Obito were desperately calling for Rin to leave as rocks crumbled around her and Obito. Rin took Kakashi's hand then Kakashi took one last glimpse at his friend before he jumped away to safety as Obito disappeared under the rocks.
His sensei was panting heavily as the enemy crowded around them. He charged up another chidori, took out a weird looking kunai and turned to face the enemy.
"I'll look after you for Obito… because of that I'll protect you even if I die," Kakashi stated "Rin… Obito liked you… loved you… you were important to him."
"Looks like they have a love triangle like us with Kakahsi sensei being Sasuke, Obtio being me, and Rin was like Sakura" Naruto mused as he saw Rin confess her love to his sensei.
"I… I was once… the kind of trash that would abandon you…" Kakashi said and Naruto took that as a confirmation for what his sensei said before.
"He really was willing to abandon his teammates. But look like this mission… no… Obito, changed him," Naruto thought. The enemy leaped at them and then, everything went dark again. When Kakashi awoke next he was lying down facing a starry sky.
"Looks like you're awake," a new voice that was now familiar said. Kakashi whipped around, acknowledged that it was his sensei and sat up questioning why he was there. Naruto watched as his father explained how the kunai was actually a way for Minato to jump to his students and protect them when used. Naruto felt a rush of joy at how his father took protecting those important to him seriously and wished that Kakashi had used the kunai before it was too late.
Finally, Kakashi destroyed a bridge and the memory faded. Naruto turned to his sensei who was still not paying attention and decided that now was a good time to shake him out of his stupor.
"Kakashi sensei," Naruto called his name as he shook him by the shoulders. His sensei blinked once… twice… then turned to look at Naruto. "Are you alright, sensei?"
"Yes I am," Kakashi shrugged and Naruto realized that he seemed his usual self.
"Why were you so out of it?" Naruto asked as Kakashi stepped away from the pool.
"I know the memory inside out," Kakashi explained "I don't need to see it again in vivid detail."
"I'm sorry about how Obito died," Naruto said and Kakashi sighed knowing that his guess that Naruto saw the memory was correct. He simply nodded and hoped Naruto won't ask any questions.
"Do you want to eat, I'm hungry," Naruto said realizing that his sensei didn't want to talk about the memory since he sighed.
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Akio finally arrived at the place where Satoshi told him the town was located at. He hid in a tree and watched the scene below. All the small houses were burned down and there was blood still visible on the surroundings. Some men were trying to clean up the blood while others were taking down the burnt buildings and sorting out through the good and bad wood from the carnage. Later, the men burned down the bad wood and started packing up whatever wood they could still use in supply carts.
Akio had no chance to examine the area himself till all of the men had retreated to neighboring towns for the night. Once they were gone, he looked around in an attempt to find anything that can help him track down his target. There were claw marks on some of the wood that was still around which meant that the 'Sea of Death' either had a clawed summon or pet. He reached one of the housed that still hadn't been touched and noticed that the door was pried open, the door stood a bit away. He moved closer to examine the door and found a claw stuck inside the wood. Rejoicing in his luck, Akio took it and made to track down the owner as soon as possible.
Taking one last look at the ruins of a once lively town, Akio bounded away and vowed to return some of the own man's brutality back at him.
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This is my seventh writing of this chapter and I still don't like it that much :P But I kept you guys waiting too long so I submitted this so you guys won't kill me :P I tried to make sure that Obito's story won't feel like a rerun so I didn't actually write out all of what happened and narrarated it. I hope it didn't feel like something you've read many times. Also the surgery bit, that might have been weird but seriously, this is Kakashi's memory and it's not like Rin had some tranquilizers or something on her :D Next chapter will be more action but this is a chapter that had to happen, it's one of those in between moments. Please review and tell me what you like and don't like and all that =D
Wishing you the Best,
Juman1994