Naruto called Hisa and Oki into his office the next morning. Both looked slightly sleepy, but listened alertly to Naruto.
"We've decided to try and keep this quiet. Obviously, people are going to notice your sharingan Hisa, and we've agreed to leave it up to you what to do when they ask. You can tell them that it's none of their business, or you can tell them the full story. We'd prefer if you tell only a few people, but after everything you've been through we'd understand if you told everyone. The same goes for you Oki."
Hisa waited until Naruto was finished before replying.
"I can't speak for Oki, but I know I'll only tell a few people. Mom and Obito obviously will find out, but I'll tell them to keep it a secret. Everyone else can start rumours or whatever, I won't tell any of them the truth."
Oki spoke next.
"Mom and Dad already knew, so they won't be surprised by the Sharingan. I'm not sure yet if I'll tell Inori-she's not good at keeping secrets."
Naruto was pleased with their answers. He smiled gently at them.
"Go home and take a few days off. Try and get back to a normal routine as soon as possible. We're going to investigate Nawaki's death thoroughly, and I promise to tell you anything we find out as long as there's full proof behind it."
Oki spun around and left, but Hisa lingered behind. Naruto went back to his paperwork, but after a minute he noticed that Hisa was still there.
"Are you ok? I mean, I know you're not ok, but is there anything I can-"
He was cut off as Hisa flung her arms around him and crushed him in a tight hug. For a few seconds, Naruto was stunned. But then he hugged her back, gently but firmly.
"I love you Hisa." he said softly.
He heard a vague noise that could be roughly translated as "Love you too." He grinned down at her.
After a minute, she drew away, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Naruto laughed slightly, but hid it before she noticed.
"Hinata will probably start worrying if you're not back soon. I'll see you at dinner time ok?"
She nodded once, still slightly shocked by her own actions.
"Sorry," she mumbled, "I think that all your ANBU guards saw that, and-"
He cut her off quickly.
"Hisa, don't ever apologize for giving me a hug. I love you and there's nothing wrong with showing that. Well, if it's family love. If it's love like me and your mother's, then some things aren't meant to be seen outside the bedroom…"
She scurried out of the office as fast as she could. Naruto kept the smile on his face until he was sure that she was gone. Then he let his head drop into his hands.
He had to believe that Obito Uchiha was not the man he had been years ago. He had to.
!
Once the man had introduced himself, Nawaki's first urge was to flee. This man had been majorly responsible for the deaths of thousands of shinobi. Although he had changed sides, his mother had explained to him that Naruto and possibly Kakashi were the only ones who fully understood why. To most of the world, this man was a dangerous mystery that would be better off dead. Speaking of which…
"I thought you were dead." Nawaki said "You've been off the radar for years now, according to Naruto. Why choose now to reveal yourself?"
The man chuckled again, which only made Nawaki more nervous. He knew the man wasn't going to hurt him, but nothing about him radiated pleasantness, especially his laughter.
"When the world hates you for what you've done, and you no longer have any purpose in your life, you'll find that the best thing for everyone is to pretend not to exist. Of course, I don't waste my time being idle. At first I tried to look out for Sasuke Uchiha, but soon it was clear that he was happy in Konoha. Well, not exactly happy-that boy doesn't know how to smile- but relatively so."
He paused to regard Nawaki, who listened patiently.
"For a while, I simply made a living. I had no goals other than waiting for death. Of course, I believe that was Tsunade's intention- to let the Rinnegan die out with me and become nothing but a bad memory. Judging from your right eye, that didn't work out, did it?"
Nawaki shook his head mutely, not knowing if he should interrupt or not. The man gave another low chuckle.
"Actually, her intention was to execute me for my crimes, but Naruto convinced her that I had changed. It's a good thing he did. I wasn't ready to die, and I was becoming sick of mass murdering. There would have been a lot of hassle if I had killed the Hokage and her elite guard."
There was no remorse in his voice at all. Nawaki was slowly getting the impression that this man wasn't entirely sane.
"So where was I? For a while, I made a living, hiding in the shadows. Once, I would have plotted revenge, or greatness. But I knew that my time for glory had passed. Sasuke was the new head of the Uchiha, and although he wasn't brilliant, he did a good job. At least, that's what I thought."
The man's chuckles were really starting to unnerve Nawaki.
"Imagine my surprise when around eight years after the war ends, I come face to face with Sakura Haruno, wearing a headband with a scratch through the Leaf insignia. Surely not? I thought, but it turned out to be true. There was another Uchiha in the world."
Nawaki was stunned. His mother had met this man? Where had he been during this? The man continued without waiting for Nawaki to say something.
"After that, my plotting became more focused. I had a new purpose now: to help you strengthen your abilities until you were the best you could be. It shall be a new generation of Uchiha, one with power and pride. That became my goal. I met with your mother a few more times. There were a lot of… interesting things happening to her, things she made me swear not to tell you unless she died."
Like all conversations Nawaki had regarding his family, he became confused. He opened his mouth to speak, but Obito continued before he could.
"So I started keeping tabs on you. When I heard that you had entered the Chunin Exams, I was interested. I knew that, much like your mother, I wouldn't be welcome if I went officially. So I snuck in to get an up-close and personal view. It's a good thing I did to, as I saved your life. After I introduced myself, I left quickly. My job there was done for the time being."
The man's tone turned slightly friendlier, although it still kept its sinister edge.
"And that brings us to the present. Here you are, after I saved you again. Not only do you have the Sharingan, but you also have the Rinnegan. This had exceeded my expectations. So now the question is, what do you want to do?"
Nawaki blinked. That hadn't been nearly as informative as he had hoped.
"So wait, why exactly do you want to help me so much? And why are you giving me a choice? Didn't you start a war because the girl you loved died? I need to know what happened during that war!"
The man gave a soft sigh, before sitting back down.
"A shame, I thought you would be satisfied with knowing why I was targeting you. But no, you want to find out what's in it for me. Very well, I'll tell you. But it's a long story."
"It's not like I have to leave urgently." Nawaki said, sitting more comfortably.
"Good. But I should warn you, a lot of it probably won't make sense, and some of it can definitely be considered insane."
Nawaki grinned slightly.
"I'm sitting in a dark underground… whatever this is, with two of the rarest and most powerful eyes on the planet. I've just been rescued by a man presumed dead, who apparently has decided that his new life purpose is to help me become powerful. Oh yeah, I should have died a day ago, and instead I was injected with Senju DNA. I've basically turned into a mini-version of you. I think I can handle a little more insanity."
!
The first person she met as she made her way down to the living area was Hinata. Hisa kept her right eye automatically closed to save chakra, but part of her was hoping that she wouldn't have to open it at all.
She made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see her mother until she ran into her. She jumped backwards in shock and looked up nervously. Hinata was staring down at her in concern.
"Hisa you're back! How did the mission go? Do you know why Naruto didn't leave his office last night?" She saw Hisa's closed eye. "What's wrong with your eye?"
She noticed Hisa's scared expression and knelt down beside her. Hisa almost shied away, but she steadied herself and took a deep breath. Hinata stared at her with growing concern.
Hisa opened her eye.
For one terrifying second, Hisa thought that Hinata was going to run away or scream. She could handle random civilians staring at her in terror, but not her own mother.
Hinata did nothing of the sort. Instead, she merely looked shocked, then pulled Hisa in for a hug. Hisa was stunned for the first second, then relaxed. Hinata would never let her family down. This was something all of them (Naruto, Obito and her) had come to realise.
Her mother pulled back and gazed down at her with gentle eyes.
"Do you feel like talking about it?" she asked softly.
Hisa shook her head, feeling like she was three years old again. Hinata seemed to understand.
"I'll get Naruto to explain it all. I made some ramen if you're hungry-it's in the pot."
Hisa nodded again.
"Ramen sounds good." she said at last.
Her mother's smile got wider. She gave Hisa one last hug, before vanishing up the stairs-no doubt to grill Naruto about the sudden appearance of a sharingan in their daughter's eye.
Hisa made her way over to the cooker. The ramen was simmering in the pot, just like Hinata had said. Hisa fished out a bowl and dumped some ramen in it, before sitting down at the family table. She had been too distraught last night to worry about food, but now that she was thinking slightly clearer, she realised that she was starving.
She was halfway through the bowl when Obito stumbled down the stairs. He blinked sleepily when he saw Hisa.
"Oh hey, you're back. Did it go well?"
He moved towards the fridge, expecting her to mutter something about how it went fine. When she didn't say anything, he turned around curiously.
Hisa was even more nervous now then she was with Hinata. Naruto and Hinata were her parents, and she knew deep down that they would never reject her. Obito was her older brother, and they loved each other (Although they would both choose ANBU torture over admitting it), but he had always been cheerful and light-hearted. Hisa had no idea how he would react. So she started with one of the most clichéd lines ever.
"Can I tell you a secret? Will you swear not to tell anyone else?"
He looked even more puzzled by this.
"Sure. You can tell me anything"
Suddenly, he gasped. Hisa thought that he had seen her closed eye and put two and two together.
"Oh kami, you're not pregnant are you? I can't handle that."
Hisa glared at him out of her one open eye.
"What? Obito, I'm eleven! Why the hell would you think I'm pregnant? I just… you're a moron, you know that?"
His shoulders slumped in relief. Grinning, he flopped down in the chair opposite her.
"Good. As long as it's not that kind of emergency, then I can handle it." He gazed curiously at her. "So? What is it? What's the big news?"
Hisa took a deep breath. Seeing as Obito had yet to notice her closed eye, she decided to start from the beginning.
"Nawaki and I had a fight on the mission-"
Obito interrupted almost at once, his grin getting wider.
"Oh? A lover's quarrel, was it? Don't worry, you'll kiss and make up soon enough."
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!" Hisa yelled, having had enough.
Obito's grin faded and he looked slightly concerned.
"Sheesh, relax. I was only kidding. It's kinda obvious that he has a massive crush on Oki anyway. Which reminds me, Kawa's training down at the quarry. He asked me to tell you in case you felt like sparring."
Hisa filed that bit of information away for later. For now, she focused on getting through to her brother. It seems like starting from the beginning wasn't the best option after all. Time for the blunt approach.
"Nawaki died." she said, ignoring the pain in her chest that came with saying those words, "We fought, then we made up, then we rescued Oki from a group of missing-nin but before we could leave one of them cut both of Nawaki's lungs."
Obito's cheerful grin vanished. He looked solemnly at her.
"I'm sorry." he said gently, "If this table wasn't in the way, I'd hug you."
She chuckled slightly.
"It's ok. Mom and Dad have already hugged me enough. But anyway, there's a bit more to the story than that. I remembered that the Rinnegan came with a seventh path, but I had locked it away and Nar-Dad wasn't there to help me open it. So I gave my right eye to Nawaki so that he could use the Outer Path and survive. But it turns out that my Rinnegan only has six paths, I'm a faulty copy. Nawaki died anyway."
Obito stared at her right eye, finally paying attention to it.
"Oh, that's why your eye is closed. I thought the ramen broth had splashed you in the eye again-"
"That was one time!" Hisa interrupted. "But the real reason I asked you to keep a secret is this: I gave Nawaki my eye, but he gave me one of his."
Obito nodded.
"Well I can understand that. He probably felt bad about taking your eye, and didn't want you to only have one. But why's it a big secret? It doesn't affect your rinnegan, and a black pupil-less eye isn't that bad…"
Hisa sighed. Finally. It was time to show him.
Slowly, she opened her eye, blinking as the chakra in her head was sent into overdrive. Maintaining the Sharingan was going to take a lot of practise.
Obito stared at her.
"Ah," he said at last, "So that's why you want me to keep it a secret."
Hisa waited for him to elaborate. After a minute, Obito reached forward and snagged some of her noodles.
"You know, you could have just showed me straight away instead of explaining everything. I wouldn't have freaked out."
Hisa let her head hit the table. The good news was that nothing had changed between them. The bad news was that Obito was as annoying as ever.
!
"Where to start, where to start?" Obito Uchiha mused, tapping his fingers against his mask.
Nawaki waited, barely concealing his impatience. Finally, he was getting answers. He knew that Obito could lie to him. But somehow, Nawaki knew that he would not.
"I presume that you know about my 'death' when I was crushed by a rock and rescued by Madara? Well, I suppose this whole miserable story starts there…"