A/N: Last chapter for now. Also, because people are still pointing it out, yes, I know that Obito's MS are the two iterations of Kamui. I've figured out a reason behind it, though it won't come into play until towards the very end since it isn't physically possible for him to find out said "reason" until then. I realized my mistake a few days after I posted the story initially, but due to the fact that he was never planned to use the technique after the initial event and that it progressed the story in the smoothest way that I could think of and accept, I kept it. There is another reason why I kept the concept of Obito using Amaterasu, but since it has some rather major spoilers, I will not elaborate on that.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Nope, never.

Chapter 8 - Passing Days

Obito walked through the crowded streets of his home village, humming a random tune as his eyes drifted and took in his surroundings.

He had just finished another D-Rank with Team Seven and decided to take to the streets, wandering around while admiring the fact that Konoha was alive and bustling. It was a habit he had picked up when he arrived in the past. He spent much of his free time either at the Hokage Monument or meandering about the place, absorbing every minute detail that he had missed when he was younger and more prone to taking advantage of the peaceful life.

Obito probably wouldn't have developed the little ritual had Team Seven been out of the village and handling C-Ranks(as they had been the first time around at this point in time), but the man-boy had apparently changed enough to the point where that simply wasn't happening this time. They had been stuck with D-Ranks for a couple of weeks now, and as such it was easy for Obito to adopt the habit of quite literally walking down memory lane.

He was happy with the new arrangement if one were to ask, but the prolonged periods of time where he was alone made it difficult to keep up his metaphorical mask of "younger Obito." Transitioning from his normal demeanor to what he remembered of his old self was no easy task, and while it would have been near impossible to maintain the facade over the course of a week-long C-Rank, it was also difficult to switch between the two when needed or when off-duty. It was ironic, but in this case, the fact that Obito had been disoriented and with a death-wish when he first met up with his team at the hospital actually worked in his favor. He was not the best actor when dealing with his loved ones, and as such, he tended to have small slip-ups where he would zone out and think about the past and future. Luckily, both Kakashi and Rin seemed to attribute his sudden absence of mind to the traumatic event that they suspected him having experienced.

It wasn't exactly a lie, of course, and it was easy to use that to his advantage. Obito had indeed changed due to a traumatic event… Though, it was less like the two-day-long one that they assumed it was and actually more of a near-twenty-year period of hatred, pained memories, and insanity.

They didn't know that though, of course.

A shock of golden-blonde hair spotted in Obito's peripheral's made him spin abruptly to the source. He smiled as he recognized the figure and hurried to catch up with his sensei, who appeared to be somewhat lost in his own thoughts. At least the sickly pallor he had a while ago was gone; he was still a little pale and seemingly drained of energy, but his spirits were certainly lighter than they had been.

"Minato-sensei!" The blonde looked up as Obito fell into step beside him, a grin in place. "What were you up to? I rarely see you these days."

Minato offered a small smile in acknowledgement of the boy's greeting. "Hello to you too, Obito. And I was actually on my way to the Hokage tower…" He trailed off, a thoughtful frown in place. "… Sorry, I know I haven't really been around lately. Business and duties to take care of. But that reminds me." The blonde scratched the back of his head, as though nervous about something. "I, uh… I wanted to know, how are the living arrangements for you?"

Obito blinked. "… Huh?"

"Ah, well, I've been busy with other things lately, as you know…" Minato gave a nervous chuckle at Obito's gaze. "I wasn't really able to ask until now. I'm really sorry about that, I wanted to make sure that you were completely comfortable at the apartment, but I never got around to doing so. Kushina wanted to make sure that you were fine with things, too, even though she hasn't been home for a while."

The Uchiha didn't miss how Minato failed to answer exactly what was going on. While he had made a silent promise to wait until the man told Obito himself, it didn't mean that the man-boy couldn't try and squeeze some information out of the blonde. He was worried, and some reassurance could help. "Speaking of which, sensei… both you and Kushina-neechan haven't been around much. I get that you're busy, but Kushina-neechan hasn't been home at all." His eyes narrowed at the carefully blank look that Minato's features took before being replaced with a forced smile.

"Don't… worry about that, there are just a few complications." Minato's eyes darted briefly before he turned back to face Obito, an uncertain expression in place. Apparently, Obito wasn't the only one who found it tough to completely lie to his team. "… Uh, by the way, Obito?"

The addressed boy looked at his sensei with an eager yet questioning look, inwardly wondering if Minato was ready to divulge the truth. "Yes sensei?"

Something odd and inscrutable flickered in the Jōnin's eyes before he smiled, though the assuring gesture didn't quite reach his eyes. The blonde shook his head. "Never mind. It's… It's nothing."

Obito frowned, but decided that he had prodded the man for information enough. He gave a small shrug. "If you say so, sensei. Anyway, I'll go now, you have to go do Jōnin stuff."

Minato smiled as he ruffled the Uchiha's hair, and with some final goodbyes, they parted ways.

Another day, another D-Rank, and Obito was walking through Konoha after the mission, on his habitual meandering. He was in his thoughts as per the usual when he bumped into a small figure.

"Oof!" He heard a boy-ish shout as he snapped out his thoughts, trying to identify who he had collided with. His eyes fell on an unruly mop of black hair, not exactly spiked and wild like his but curled and unruly.

Obito raised an eyebrow at the familiar mop of hair. "Er… Are you alright, kid?"

The small boy he stood up and dusted himself off, mumbling faintly. "… Yeah, 'm fine," he muttered under his breath. Then, he glared up at Obito, as though just realizing what the man-boy had said. "And I'm not a kid!"

Amused, the taller of the two ravens ruffled the boy's wild, dark locks and chuckled. "Sure, sure, because you're a big and strong grown-up, right?"

The kid's pout quickly vanished and his eyes practically glowed. "Yeah, I am! And is that a ninja headband, mister?"

"What…" Obito knelt down and tapped the metal plate of his hitai-ate, a smirk steadily growing. "… This?"

He smiled as the kid—no older than four, maybe five, he inwardly noted—gave out a delighted yell before reaching to grab Obito's hand.

"You're a ninja, mister! That's so awesome!" He grinned as he smacked the metal of the headband, and Obito gave a light wince at the force. Kid had a strong arm for his age, that's for sure. "I wanna be a ninja when I grow up, too!"

"Heh, I don't doubt that," the older raven stated as he stood up. His eyes narrowed as he glanced to his left, trying to discern the presences that had arrived not long after Obito had encountered the boy. 'The question, though,' he mused silently, 'are they ANBU, protective Uchiha, or agents of that bastard?'

Sadly, Obito didn't really have much to go off of in regards to Danzō at this particular time. He didn't know if the man already had his eyes on the boy, so he couldn't be sure, but the knowledge he had of the man's future interest in the boy still left the hairs on the back of his neck on end.

After another moment, he shrugged and ruffled the boy's hair again, earning him an indignant squeak. "Well, it was nice talking to you, kid, but I should go. Ninja stuff to do, you know."

"I'm not a kid!" the boy shouted at Obito's retreating back, before pausing and adding, "I'll see ya later, goggles-niisan!"

Obito smiled as he lifted his arm in a wave, not turning around to do so. His suspicions were confirmed when the other presences disappeared, following after the the boy, proving that they were not ANBU sent to look after Obito but a different group sent to either observe or protect the younger raven. Obito shook his head, worries gone as he recognized a somewhat familiar chakra signature in the group following the younger Uchiha.

'Over-protective Uchiha, indeed,' he thought, chuckling with faint amusement. He stared up at the sky, his mood rather light after the brief encounter. 'I look forward to seeing how far you go this time around, Uchiha Shisui.'

"… Damn."

Minato closed the book he had been reading with a frustrated sigh. It was the 429th one that he had opened in the few weeks he had been searching(yes, he had been keeping count), and he had essentially cleaned out the library and records room of all the information regarding the Kaguya clan.

He was getting rather frustrated that he couldn't find anything in regards to their traveling habits and their usual methods of torture(that's what he suspected had happened to Obito) but found nothing, and there was not even a mention of Genjutsu within the Kaguya clan. The two words were never even mentioned in the same damn sentence.

He groaned as he leaned back into his chair, nursing the oncoming headache that left him feeling severely discouraged.

It would've been simple. He could just walk up to Obito and ask what happened, maybe slip him the question one day while passing. "Hey, so, I've been wondering, what exactly happened three weeks ago, anyway? I've been worried sick and damn curious and I just want to know." … Yeah, Minato wasn't going to do that.

It'd been a few weeks, sure, but he didn't know the degree that the boy suffered. He didn't know if Obito was ready to confront whatever traumatic event he had experienced. That day, about a week ago, when Minato had encountered Obito in the streets of Konoha, he had to stop himself from asking. Because while he wanted answers, he just couldn't get the words to come out, not when he saw that familiar gleam of innocence in the boy's eyes. It had taken two weeks for the boy to regain some semblance of his old self, and Minato didn't want to watch him lose that carefree look that seemed to have finally returned. Because that dead, haunted look that he had seen in Obito's eyes three weeks ago was something he never wanted to see again. It was something he never wanted to see in Obito, or in any child, ever, because it didn't belong there in place of childish wonder and innocence.

He grimaced as he thought about the oncoming war. Most likely, he would be seeing more of that look sooner rather than later. Even though it was almost considered social taboo to speak about it, Minato knew that the chances of a Third War were dangerously high. This looming threat of death and carnage was precisely the reason why the blonde had been applying for so many D-Ranks for his team as of late. Even though the chances of the war were looking high and missions for assassination and sabotage were frequent for Chūnin, ANBU and Jōnin during wartime, he refused to throw his team into that. Even though the amount of missions of that particular niche were practically flooding the mission's desk, Minato refused to have his team participate in that so soon. Because in this time, he could still reject the missions, but once the war started, he would be completely unable to.

Part of him chastised himself, saying that it was foolish to keep Team Seven from participating and getting a small taste of what the war would be like. Logically speaking, taking on the more severe missions now would be prudent as preparation for his team. The more emotional part of him said that he couldn't stand to see his students go out onto the battlefield with their innocence, and come back with the eyes of young killers with carefully reigned-in emotions.

These two sides always warred with each other, but with the recent events regarding Obito, it was easier to relent to his true wishes over his trained, Shinobi reflexes.

Minato sighed as he set his book aside, taking another one from the pile.

As their Jōnin sensei, it was allowed for him to accompany them for their first few missions during wartime. He could help prepare them then, and give them this respite now. D-Ranks were just as important as the missions that took them out on the field, after all, and his team understood that.

He just wanted his innocent, lovable Chūnin for just a little while longer, while Obito healed. He didn't want them to bloody their hands and become ruthless killers.

Not yet.

Kushina frowned as she walked home with Minato, her eyes on her stomach. For the past month, she had been stressed out.

Perhaps it was the feeling of being a burden to her husband(who already had a team of Chūnin to look after) or maybe it was the fact that the doctors literally could find no cure or cause for her fainting spells. Seriously, nearly a whole month spent in the hospital, and nothing. Finally, that day, she had been released from the hospital and put on leave from her duties. A Kunoichi that suffers from completely random fainting spells was rather useless, after all.

She grit her teeth as frustration bubbled up. She was certain that the spells had to do with her seal. Positive. And yet, she really couldn't confirm anything, because both she and Minato had checked the damn thing over so many times that she lost count, and still, nothing.

Many times, the red-head contemplated having Minato contact Jiraiya, but thought better of it. He would have done so already if it wasn't a problem. Jiraiya was out of the village more and more frequently, as of late, and it was all in an effort to keep up his rather young spy network. Kushina didn't know much about it, but based on how long the man took, it must've been a pain to upkeep.

That, or the pervert spent too many hours spying on innocent women in foreign bathhouses.

The red-head sighed as Minato carefully lead her into their apartment. Honestly, it had gotten rather annoying how vigilant about her health her husband had suddenly become. The care was flattering an appreciate, of course, but it was a little bit much when the man wouldn't even let her eat in peace, making sure that she ate every last bit of the disgusting hospital food(packed with vitamins and good for health, but the death of tastebuds) she had been stuck with for her stay. She wasn't a piece of damn porcelain, and she could take care of herself, dattebane! … When she wasn't unconscious on the floor thanks to a fainting spell, that is.

When she stumbled slightly, the blonde was right by her side, a worried look on his face as he asked if she was alright. Kushina gave him a heated glare, conveying that it wasn't a spell and that she just tripped.

She wasn't so certain, however, when she suddenly felt her head blur and her eyes grow unfocused, and she found herself in darkness. The only thing that was missing was the feeling of her body making contact with the hardwood floor, and something told her it wasn't because Minato had caught her in time.

Kushina blinked back the haze from her eyes and looked around her, finding herself in a black abyss, knee-deep in water. '… Where…?' She thought quietly, before a light splash behind her alerted her to another presence. When she turned around, her breath caught and she felt her heart stop altogether.

There lay the Kyūbi and all his nine tails swaying back and forth menacingly, his blood-red eyes staring at her. Staring. Through her almost palpable fear, she was just barely able to note that something about the fox was… off. There were spots on his fur that were frayed and burnt-looking, and some areas he was lacking fur entirely, making him look like he had been haphazardly sheared by a child. As she got a better look at him, he looked like he had been through a rather intense fight and lost, if his low chakra levels and overall tired demeanor were any indication. Another odd thing she noticed was that he was staring at her, not with hatred, anger, or even disgust, but with wide-eyed shock.

"… Wha…" The red-head breathed out, barely able to move and speak due to fear and shock.

The fox blinked, and his mouth opened, emitting a strained and cracked voice. "You…" He reached out to her, causing Kushina to flinch backwards out of her stupor. "How are you…?"

Kushina screeched in horror as another realization occurred to her, and possibly the most important detail. He was free. The chains that usually bound him, the great dial he was usually pinned to, it was gone, all of it was GONE. And he was free, and could tear her limb from limb, and—oh, shit.

She shot up with another scream, panting and dry-heaving, clutching her heart which felt like it was about to burst. Her eyes darted around, barely realizing that, no, she wasn't in that dark abyss anymore, but in the familiar living room of her apartment.

"Kushina!?" She barely noticed the concerned way her husband was staring at her while shaking her at the shoulders, trying to stir her from her hysteria. "Kushina, it's okay! Nothing bad happened, you're safe!"

The red-head continued clutching at her chest with her right hand, but gripped Minato's arm with her left as she stared up at him, wide-eyed. "Mi—Mina-t-to, it's—the—the Ky—" She coughed, having inhaled some of her spit in her panic. Minato offered her a cup of water which she took gratefully, taking the moment to calm her stuttering nerves and racing heartbeat.

She quickly finished the small glass and once again gripped Minato by his arms, panic still evident in her eyes. "T-the Kyūbi!" She finally yelled, and Minato's eyes widened in horror at the fox's mention. "I-I don't know why, but he—he was free! He wasn't pinned to the dial, and I was right, there was something wrong, and—oh, with the seal and my fainting spells—just—what do we do!?"

Minato placed his hands on Kushina's as he removed them, her hands trembling slightly as he did so. He then enveloped her in a careful hug so as to reassure her, and began smoothing down her lustrous red hair.

"It's okay, it's okay, Kushina," he spoke in a low tone, and the red-head felt herself calming almost immediately. He continued this until her breathing evened out to normal, calm breaths, and pulled away to give her a serious look. "I'm going to check the seal now, Kushina, but I want to tell you now that I don't feel any abnormal spikes in your chakra."

She nodded; she didn't feel much different either, with the exception of having just recovered from a rather embarrassing fit of hysteria. She hadn't even felt an ounce of killing intent from the fox, and yet, she was still this frightened; it was rather humiliating, if she were to be honest. With a small frown, the red-head leaned back on the couch she was on and Minato lifted her shirt before she started channeling a minute amount of chakra to her stomach. The seal glowed into existence, and Minato traced the lines, absorbing every detail.

After a few minutes he sighed, re-aligning her shirt and pulling away. Kushina cut off the flow of chakra, too.

Minato sat down next to her and held her hands in his, gazing into her violet eyes with his unflinching gaze. "There was nothing wrong with the seal itself, Kushina," her heart dropped. "But I can ask Jiraiya-sensei to come by and check. This constitutes as an emergency, especially if the Kyūbi was free in your seal. Hopefully he will find something to fix both problems." His eyes wandered to her midsection, a thoughtful frown in place. "Though…"

"I know what you're thinking," Kushina began, measuring the blonde's reactions. She was able to speak in a normal tone now, having calmed down enough to do so. She swallowed, her mouth and throat feeling like parchment. "I… I know. If the Kyūbi really was free, then he would've left by now, killing me in the process." Minato winced at the rather blunt explanation, but she ignored it, opting instead to continue voicing her thoughts.

"That's… That's what was strange, to be honest. I almost always sense the Kyūbi's vile chakra, laced with it's intense hate, whenever I'm in my mind-scape or using the chakra. But something… Something was off. When I was in there, he had no feeling of his usual anger or hatred, but…" She bit her lip as she thought back to her brief encounter before she lost her mind and began screaming her head off. "… Intrigue? He was surprised, and looked… Beaten up. Worse than Jiraiya-sensei after a beating from Tsunade-sama."

Minato had a strange look on his face but nodded nonetheless.

Deciding that the topic of getting old and perfectly content to move on, Kushina stretched before sending Minato a questioning look. "So… How's the Kaguya investigation going?"

The blonde lost his composure immediately and sighed dejectedly, sinking into the soft material of the couch. Kushina winced. "… That bad, huh?"

Minato raked his hands down his face as he groaned. "Really bad. Aside from learning more of their rather unsavory history, I found nothing that could help me track them down, no traveling habits or anything." He crossed his arms and let out a huff. "Worst part, I have nothing to go off of to find the exact Kaguya that harmed Obito. I joked about it with Shikaku and Inoichi, but I can't really go off and kill an entire clan, nomadic without ties to a village or not."

Kushina let out a small "pfft" noise and Minato raised an eyebrow in her direction. "I bet you really scared 'em, huh? Making them think you'd go on a genocide? I know I'd be if my future Hokage was homicidal, 'ttebane."

The blonde's brow furrowed. "It was made in jest, though." His brow only furrowed further as his wife fell into a bout of giggles.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Mina-chan, but when you 'joke' about killing, you give people the impression that you're completely serious," Kushina stated through her laughter. Her husband stared at her dumbly for a few moments, seemingly disbelieving of her statement.

Finally, Minato scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he sat back up, a chuckle escaping his lips. "Er… Really…?"

"Yes," the red-head deadpanned.

The blonde remained quiet, before emitting a small, "… Oh."

The dejected look he gave was just too adorable to Kushina, and she promptly enveloped him in a tight hug, smiling at the laughter her sudden display of affection earned her. "It's okay, because I love you either way, Minato."

Minato smiled as he returned the hug. "Of course, and I love you t—"

"Just don't make death-jokes anymore in public." Kushina pinned him with a look that all but spoke, "I'm serious."

The blonde huffed indignantly before rolling his eyes, the smile on his face betraying any offense. "Yes, yes, of course."

"Obito-kun, I'm sorry if you're busy, but could you help me out with these groceries…?"

Obito had been wandering around Konoha, doing nothing that was particularly productive, so he technically had no reason to reject the plea for help. He had nearly convinced himself to simply give and excuse and leave, his worries and fears getting the better of him. One look at the nine bags of rather heavy produce, however, and he had his answer.

He really couldn't help it, he had said yes on instinct.

The raven hadn't seen Hana-obaachan since the day he saw her on the ground and dying, and there was something about seeing her alive and well that made his inhibitions fall to pieces. So, completely naturally, he had said "sure" with the vim and vigor of his old self, when he truly had been thirteen years old.

If anything, the only thing that made him somewhat hesitant after the fact were the stares he had been receiving, lately. Of course, when he was younger he was always looked at with some level of disgust by the average citizens of Konoha(and some of the Shinobi he had gotten on the bad sides of), but somehow, this time around they were a little more like blatant glares than simple staring.

Obito had assumed that it was because of the fire. Rumors spread fast, and there were quite a few civilians in that apartment complex, so he wasn't surprised that each of them went to their best friends and mothers about the incident, caused by "that Uchiha punk." It actually made him smile a little every time he heard the term. Call it immature and spiteful, but it made him happy to hear people speak the Uchiha name with such spite. He hadn't done it on purpose before, but like hell he wasn't metaphorically shitting on the name on purpose this time around. He would've felt bad if there were more people like Itachi's immediate family in the clan, but as far as he remembered that wasn't the case, and it was far too satisfying imagining the horrified looks that the elders had on their faces each time someone came to complain. So yeah, he really had no regrets on that particular subject.

He glanced to the little old lady beside him, the worry bringing him back to his senses. He didn't want her to end up being an object of hatred as well, just because she treated him nicely. He wouldn't have minded as much if she had been a Kunoichi earlier in life or had been younger and more able-bodied to protect herself. But she wasn't either of the two, and was fairly weak. If anyone decided that she was as useless and unimportant as Obito due to her association with him, then he had no doubt that they would have no problems injuring her.

His eyes widened at the rather sharp look the elderly woman aimed somewhere to her left, and allowed his gaze to follow her's. There, he saw a gaggle of civilians, speaking in not-so-quiet tones while glaring not-so-surreptitiously at him. He shrugged, ready to ignore them, but promptly halted as he heard the surprisingly harsh tone of a familiar voice.

"What are you idiots looking at!?" Obito almost gave himself whiplash, what with how fast he turned to Hana, eyes-wide and disbelieving that that powerful voice came out of this woman. "Look at you, foolish bunch, all of you! You could be spending your time helping me instead of gossiping about this fellow who actually has a heart!" Obito's jaw was on the ground, and judging by the looks of the bystanders, so were their's.

Hana only huffed and began dragging Obito along, but not before sending one last heated glare at the other bystanders. "Well? Go back to what you were doing with your productive lives! Don't be jealous just because I have a handsome young man to help me with my groceries!"

As they left the area, Obito watched the woman continue to fume and mutter words under her breath. Forget "weak" and "protected," this woman had a fire in her that was fitting for a citizen of Konoha.

He burst out into controllable laughter.

It was truly amusing. Him, Uchiha Obito, who had lived as a double for Madara, who had become an S-Ranked threat, was still making the elementary mistake of underestimating others. He didn't even notice when Hana stopped and turned to him, a wrinkly smile in place.

"See, Obito-kun? I don't need to be protected," she placed a pruney hand over Obito's, and he abruptly stopped laughing as his eyes widened in surprise. "So you don't need to worry about me. Don't feel disheartened about the looks some villagers may give you, because I know that you are actually a very, very kind young man."

Then, she swiftly relieved Obito of the baggage(it was about thirty-kilograms in weight, if Obito judged it correctly) and sauntered down the road to her house, the Uchiha both confused and completely stunned at what he had just witnessed.

He didn't know how long he remained standing there.

With a cough, he spun on his heel and began walking in the direction of Minato's apartment. He couldn't help but feel lucky that he was on the old woman's good side.

When Obito had returned home, he was greeted by the sight of both Kushina and Minato, two individuals he loved dearly and hadn't seen much of for a while.

"Kushina-neechan, you're home!" He exclaimed in-character, running to give the red-head a hug. He had to keep himself from scowling when he noticed she was noticeably thinner than what was most likely deemed healthy for a woman of her age.

"It's nice to see you too, Obito," she said quietly before pushing him away to look at his face. She grinned and ruffled his hair. "My, don't you look handsome! You're really growing up, aintcha?"

Obito smiled. "Well, you have been gone for nearly a month," he retorted.

The red-head let out a light huff before standing up straight, her hands resting on her hips. "Well, it's not like I could help it! If I could, I would spend every waking hour with you guys, but I—"

The Uchiha's smile quickly faded and morphed into horror when Kushina doubled over while clutching her stomach, pain evident on her face.

"Kushina…?" Obito questioned quietly, before rushing to her side. "Kushina-neechan? What's wrong!?" He looked up at Minato, who was knelt down next to Kushina with his mouth set in a grim line. "Minato-sensei, what exactly is going on?" He hadn't meant to lower his voice and state his words in such a commanding tone, but it came out as such regardless. Luckily, his two companions didn't seem to notice or pay any mind to the sudden shift of attitude, what with the more pressing issue at hand.

Briefly, the red-head and blonde exchanged a look before Kushina struggled to get up, Minato helping her. He turned to Obito, a half-hearted smile in place. "… She's just been having stomach pains, is all."

Unbeknownst to the pair, instead of relieving Obito, it sent off alarms in his head. Immediately, his thoughts trailed to the Kyūbi, because really, why else would a trained Kunoichi with a decade of experience as a Jinchūriki be suffering from stomach pains? It was pretty damn obvious that Kushina's "stomach" pains were what was keeping her away from the apartment and likely in the hospital. However, at the clearly pained look Kushina had on her face and the worry evident on Minato's, he decided he could wait until they decided to tell him the truth. If they didn't want to tell him, it was fine, he could wait until she decided it was alright. Probably.

"Sorry, Obito, could you go, um, see if Jiraiya-sensei's new books have come in at the bookstore yet?" Obito looked up at the blonde, who was smiling faintly. "I'm going to take Kushina to the bedroom so she can rest."

Not really knowing what else to say at the painfully obvious request for privacy, Obito simply replied with a quiet, "alright," before turning back around to the door.

Before he exited, he heard Kushina mumble the words, "… At least I didn't faint this time."

Obito had decided to stop by the memorial stone.

Where else could he go? And considering the situation, he found it oddly fitting that he make his first visit to the place now, while he had unanswered questions. It stood as the centerpiece of the graveyard, proudly holding the names of the fallen. The names of heroes who had died in action, for Konoha, and their loved ones. It was a place where his name once rested, misplaced and undeserved with his betrayal and outright murder of so many dedicated Shinobi.

"… Hmm, I'm not really sure how to do this," he finally began, humming slightly, his hands shoved casually in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "Well… It's been nearly a month, now, since I ended up in this situation."

A month. A month in the past was all it took for him to finally face his inner demons and confront the people he had killed. It was something he most likely would have spent years trying to overcome had he not been brought to the past and instead continued living in the future where he came from. It was funny, actually, how easy it was to dismiss one's past sins when sent to a time where they never happened. Where the people he had killed still lived, and were none the wiser about their blood on his hands.

He scratched the back of his head. "It's… Actually really annoying, honestly, trying to recondition this body." He scowled as he lifted his arm and shook it slightly. "My limbs are shorter, too, and muscles don't quite develop… Right." His hand slid back into his pocket. "My progress on chakra is going well, at least. I have about a quarter as much chakra as I had as an adult—minus the whole Jūbi thing, of course—and my control is great!" He beamed at the last statement, only to deflate slightly. "And, well, yeah, my physical strength is dismal. I'm steadily making it up there, however."

The Uchiha gave a small, wry smile. "I'm… I'm a lot stronger than Kakashi. A lot faster, and I have tons more chakra, too. He's… He's not the same, and I realize that." He paused. "Rin is alive. Not much to really say about that, I guess, but I'm… happy."

He lifted his hand to trace an empty spot on the stone, where his sensei's name once rested in the future-past. "… I'm worried about Minato and Kushina. They're hiding something, and while I want to trust sensei, I feel like it's… It's something important. Something happened involving the Kyūbi, and…" Obito gulped as his mouth suddenly felt very dry. "… And I'm worried it has to do with me."

His hand slowly slid down the cold, smooth stone, and he looked up at the sky, a sad smile in place.

"… I wonder, what would you have done in this situation, Naruto?"

A/N: If you haven't noticed, this chapter actually has quite a bit of "fluff." After so much angst(and in preparation for future events), I felt like this story needed some light-hearted interactions.