A/N First off, sorry for not updating for such a long time. Part of it was because I have big exams coming up, and part of it was writer's block. A big part of this chapter is about Obito, and I'm finding it difficult to predict where the manga will take his character. He'll probably end up being OOC in this story, but I will try and explain why. There's always the danger when you write a fanfic about a show that hasn't finished yet that your story will end up being AU. I'll try and stick to cannon as much as I can.
That's all I'm going to say about it. If you haven't read the latest manga chapters I won't spoil it on you. Some of the stuff that Obito will talk about is canon, and some I just made up. Thanks again for all the reviews.
"Madara Uchiha was an insane man. He had an unhealthy obsession with Hashirama Senju which lasted after his death. He had the man's face tattooed onto his chest! But anyway, when I first met him I knew that he was insane. He began to preach about how cruel this world was. He wanted to make a Utopia where no one would feel pain. The problem was that they also wouldn't have any freedom-it was a giant genjutsu. I'm sure your mother told you all about it."
Nawaki nodded. His mother had explained to him about Madara and Obito's plan, but she had never elaborated on why exactly Obito agreed with the plan. Did he really agree to it because one person died?
Obito seemed to read his mind.
"I'm sure you've heard the stories. How I decided to rule the world simply because the girl I loved died? I'll admit, there is a grain of truth in that story, but I was not that selfish."
Nawaki was honestly curious. He still didn't trust this man, and he knew that the man wasn't exactly sane. But then again, no shinobi really was completely sane-him included. Obito Uchiha was a legend, known as an insane criminal mastermind. But now Obito was telling him that there was more to the story than that. He was intrigued.
"The fact is that I am not the only person in this world that has lost a loved one. Before Rin died, Madara had pointed this out to me. He had explained that everyone in the world is forced to go through the pain of watching a loved one die. I had never experienced this pain, so his philosophy seemed ridiculous to me. However, once Rin died, it made a lot more sense."
He paused for a second here. Nawaki had a feeling that the man was watching him, scrutinizing him for a reaction. He kept his face carefully blank.
"I'll admit that part of me was selfish. I wanted to create this world simply so that I could be with Rin and Kakashi again. But the bigger part of me wanted to do this for the greater good. I truly believed that there was no other way to completely rid this world of pain and suffering. I still do believe that."
He glanced at Nawaki again. Nawaki kept his face blank.
"After Madara's death, I took his identity. It helped me set my plans into motion faster, as his reputation alone struck fear into many hearts. In that time, I did many… unforgivable things. I killed, I lied, I deceived. Do I regret it? At first I did, but then I realised that there was no point wasting what's left of my life wallowing in regret. I had spent so many years scheming that I simply didn't know how to stop."
He paused again, seemingly lost in thought. After a minute, he began to talk again.
"But I'm getting ahead of myself. My beliefs changed again in the middle of the Fourth Shinobi World War. I fought Kakashi one on one. He desperately attempted to change my mind, to make me see that people could still live after the deaths of their loved ones. It didn't work for a long time. I was too devoted to the Eye of the Moon plan to change now. However, a small part of me was changing- thanks to Naruto Uzumaki."
Nawaki smirked slightly at that. No one was immune to Naruto's charisma. He could make the devoted monks at the Fire Temple agree to change their religion if he put his mind to it.
"Naruto shared many of the beliefs that I had as a child. His desire to never abandon his comrades, and his desire to protect them all by becoming Hokage were both traits that I had had before Rin's death. However, Rin's death meant that I had failed, and that my desires were worthless. I truly believed that wishing to protect your comrades was pointless. They would die anyway, and you would feel even worse. However, part of me wondered if perhaps Naruto could do it. Subconsciously, I began to test him. I killed his comrades and taunted him, seeing if he would ever realise that his ambition was pointless. He never did."
Nawaki could see where this was going, but he still didn't understand where he fit into this. He waited patiently for Obito to finish.
"As I fought with Kakashi, he explained to me what my subconscious had been doing. He also showed me that not everyone was like me. I was unable to fill the hole in my heart left by the deaths of my loved ones. Kakashi explained to me that other people could. At first, I didn't believe him, but then we went back to the battlefield, and I saw that Naruto was as strong as ever. Despite everything that had been thrown at him, he was winning. My thoughts after this are a little bit complex, but in the end I was convinced to change sides. With the help of all the shinobi, but mainly Naruto and your parents, Kakashi, and I managed to defeat Madara by using our Kamui jutsu. It sent him into another dimension, defeating him for good. The Ten-tails was subdued, and his chakra was shared amongst a select few shinobi, who became the new type of jinchuriki."
Nawaki was stunned. Obito's voice hadn't changed throughout his story. It was as if he was reciting a list, not explaining a story. Nawaki also felt that he was leaving out a lot, although he did seem to be telling the truth for the most part.
"So… I get now why you did what you did, but I still don't understand why you're suddenly all interested in me. Why are the Uchiha suddenly so important to you? Didn't you help massacre them?"
Obito sighed and leant against the wall of the cave. Nonetheless, he did answer Nawaki's question.
"You see, ever since the times of the First Hokage, the Uchiha and the Senju have being fighting for control over the shinobi world. I don't mean complete control, but they always have been two of the biggest influences on this world. It has always been the Senju in control, and this was another part of Madara's philosophy. He didn't think that the Senju were strong enough to do what they had to. They bowed down to the other villages, and gave them Bijus to appease them. Hashirama was strong but naïve. He thought that the villages could coexist if he gave them all equal power. He believed in happiness, but at the same time he caused strife. Madara had a different philosophy. By using the Eye of the Moon plan and taking away free will from everyone bar Madara and I, we would ensure that no one suffered. They were two extremes, which is why the two clans could never coexist. The Uchiha were immune to the feelings of others which helped them achieve a higher goal, while the Senju tried to appease everyone in hope that everyone would follow their example. Over the years, these two clans have fought for their ideals, but neither could fully win over the other. Throughout these fights, the Senju have always been the ruling clan, the 'good guys' if you want to be blunt. However, none of the Senju were strong enough to stop the evil and suffering in the world. They were too weak, and so missing-nin began to thrive. When Itachi Uchiha slaughtered his clan-again putting his own feelings and the feelings of his clan aside for the greater good- I knew that something had to be done. The Uchiha were becoming extinct, and if we didn't try to gain control now, we might not have a chance to again."
Nawaki was trying his best to keep up, but he had been born eight years after the war. Growing up with a missing-nin as a mother had shown him things that most parents would shelter their children from, but at the same time he himself had been sheltered from a lot of things. He had only been in the Academy for six months, and he had realised that his knowledge of shinobi history wasn't very informed. The only source of information he had had was his mother, and he knew that she had kept-and was still keeping- some things from him. Nonetheless, he was able to gather the general idea from Obito's speech.
"However, Naruto managed to convince me that he could change the world. That instead of fighting, the Senju and the Uchiha could rule together. I believed him, and he has not let me down. He arranged an equal fight between himself and Sasuke to fight for the title of Hokage. Naruto won, but he convinced Sasuke to become second-in-command. The two of them work together in a way that was unheard of between the two clans. Naruto is the good side, the light. All the shinobi from all the nations trust and believe in him. Under his rule, feuds were resolved and shinobi began to cooperate and trust more. The fear was diminished greatly-at least it was for a good while, it's been growing slightly for these past twelve years. The point is that most of the shinobi were focused on either self-preservation or complete loyalty to their village. They did not trust easily because of the constant fear. Naruto eased that, and created peace amongst the lands simply by being himself."
Somehow, none of this seemed ridiculous. If it was anyone else, Nawaki would have called it impossible, but this was Naruto. If he could make people who swore to kill him change their minds, what chance did normal shinobi have?
Obito still wasn't finished, and Nawaki wondered if he had been planning this speech for a long time.
"However, charisma and optimism couldn't convince everyone. There will always be shinobi who are driven by greed alone. Shortly after the war ended, there was a small group of Kiri shinobi who planned to take advantage of the newfound trust between villages. They were in the middle of plotting a coup when the Hyuga spies found out. They reported back to Hinata, who decided to tell Sasuke."
This speech was taking a long time, but Nawaki didn't really mind. He had never heard of this coup before, and was curious to find out more.
"Sasuke is the dark side. He deals with the decisions that can only end badly. When he found out about the coup, he didn't let Naruto try and convince them to change. He went straight to Kiri and slaughtered every single member who was involved in the coup. It wasn't pretty, but it was necessary. Thankfully, it hadn't grown that big yet, and the whole thing was kept silent. Only the highest of shinobi from Konoha and Kiri know that it even happened. The families of the slaughtered shinobi were simply informed that they had been killed in the middle of a mission. Later, evidence was forged showing that the shinobi were traitors. As far as I know, that was the biggest and messiest problem that Sasuke had to deal with. But it shows you what he has to deal with on a daily basis. Naruto was worried that running the police station on top of that would be too much, but Sasuke insisted. Apparently he had wanted to be a policeman before the clan massacre."
Nawaki absorbed this information like a sponge. His head was starting to spin slightly, because it felt like all this information was important, but Obito still hadn't gotten to the point.
"Because both Naruto and Sasuke ruled together, the pain and suffering eased and although it didn't disappear completely the people kept their free will. It was the fairest way to balance it out. After I saw this, I was finally convinced that the world was in good hands. My only worry was the future. Naruto had two children, but Sasuke didn't show the slightest interest in anyone, man or this era of peace was going to last, there would need to be both a Senju descendant and an Uchiha descendant in charge. I was seriously debating impregnating a random hooker or implanting my sharingan into a random child when your mother came along. She was tired and running scared, fighting off ANBU day after day. I helped her with a few debts and gave her a few false identities, and in return she gave me information. The child she was carrying was an Uchiha."
Nawaki had never realised how desperate his mother must have been. If she had sought help from Obito Uchiha, he wondered what else she had done. Obito seemed to be reading his mind again, as Nawaki could see a small smirk on his lips. It was then that he realised that the mask wasn't covering Obito's mouth anymore. Perhaps his throat had gotten dry from all that talking and he had needed a drink. The normalcy of this made Nawaki smile slightly.
"Which brings us back to your question: Why do you matter so much to me? The answer is simple, Nawaki. You are destined to be a huge power in this world. I do not know how or when it will happen, but one day you shall rule Konoha alongside a Senju or Uzumaki. I will make sure that this will happen, so that the world will continue to know peace after Sasuke's life comes to an end. In order to make sure that you will be strong enough, I've saved your life and brought you here."
Nawaki wasn't too sure that he li ked where this was going. He tried to cut Obito off before he could continue.
"I get where you're coming from, and I'm really, really grateful that you saved my life, but I think the best way for me to… face my destiny is if I go home and face the truth. Hisa's probably back with the sharingan, so I really need to clear things up before it all gets out of control. And if I want to get stronger I think that the best way is for Konoha to train me. Plus I really want to see Oki, and if you want there to be another generation of Uchiha after me then Konoha is definitely where I should be. So…"
Obito waited silently for Nawaki to finish his list of excuses. Once he had run out of reasons, Nawaki had no choice but to wait for Obito's reply. Obito still had that half-smirk on his face.
"I agree. As I have said before, it is up to you how you want to achieve greatness. I simply told you all this so you could understand my intentions. All I want to do is help you, so that you can keep the peace in the future."
Nawaki relaxed slightly thinking that Obito was finished and that he could go. Unfortunately, Obito wasn't done.
"However," he said "You aren't ready to leave just yet. Your body still needs time to adjust to both the Senju DNA and the Rinnegan."
"I can rest in Konoha." Nawaki argued weakly.
He was sure that Obito was staring sceptically at him.
"Do you really think that they will give you time to rest? To them, you have just confirmed that you are Sasuke Uchiha's son and you are also supposed to be dead. By the time you get to the hospital it will be too late. I am the only one who fully knows how to handle this mixture of bloodstreams, therefore it would be wise of you to stay here until I give the all-clear."
Nawaki opened his mouth to argue but Obito cut him off.
"You may be skilled in using the Sharingan, but handling that as well as the Rinnegan and Wood Style? If you go to Konoha before you learn control you could end up hurting your friends. You don't want that, do you?"
Nawaki sighed and flopped back on the blanket.
"No." he muttered "I don't want that."
Obito stared at him expectantly. He sighed.
"Fine. I'll stay for now."
He turned his face towards the stone wall, completely missing Obito's smirk.
!
Sasuke burst into the Hokage's office without invitation. Normally, Naruto would think it was an emergency, but Sasuke had been doing it so often these days that he hardly bothered looking up.
Sasuke walked over to the desk and placed his hands on the desk.
"Any news?" he asked/demanded "When will we be ready to move?"
Naruto continued sorting through the paperwork. To a stranger, Sasuke's voice would sound emotionless. But Naruto knew Sasuke, and he knew that Sasuke wasn't alright. Losing Nawaki to Obito had made him tenser, more agitated. Even though they still had no proof that Obito was planning anything, Naruto knew that Sasuke was scared. He showed his fear by working harder than ever, focusing his mind on one thing alone. It made Naruto happy that Sasuke was worried about Nawaki , even if he hadn't acknowledged him as his son yet. Of course, he was sad that they had to worry about Nawaki in the first place.
Naruto finally looked up to meet his friend's impatient gaze. Sasuke was glaring down at him with poorly concealed irritation.
"We'll be ready to move soon." Naruto said. "I'm debating whether or not to bring Nawaki's team, and I want to make a few last minute adjustments to the seal. One of the ANBU was caught a few weeks ago, but we passed it off as a fluke. We should get the coordinates soon."
Sasuke nodded, before turning around and sweeping out of the office. The door slammed behind him without a goodbye.
Once he was alone, Naruto's face lost its calm façade, and was replaced by worry. He was naturally optimistic, but there were so many things that could go wrong with this next mission. Even if it went right, Naruto knew that a lot of people would get hurt.
He sighed, remembering the good old days when being Hokage meant nothing more that beating up anyone strong enough to threaten the village. Now…
Now he needed a vacation.
He grinned slightly at that. He knew that he'd never get a real vacation, but there was always a bright spot if his days were extra hard.
Right on cue, Hinata entered the office. Naruto's smile became the most genuine it had been all day, and he wrapped his arms around his wife in a bear-hug.
He'd take Hinata over a lifetime of vacations.
A/N Sorry if this chapter was boring. Obito talked a lot, but I needed to show people his motivation for helping Nawaki. Next chapter will be more interesting(I hope).
Anyway, about Obito's speech. It's basically the way I feel about the whole 'Uchiha vs Senju' thing and how I hope it's resolved. It will probably come up again, but I don't think it will take up the whole chapter.
Thanks again for all the reviews. I'll try my very best to update this story by next week.