I do not own Naruto. I do, however, own Chiyuki, any original characters, and this story's plot.

TW: violence, death, torture.

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In which Madara tortures and tries to manipulate Obito, and the boy fights all the way. (Or, the Kannabi Bridge mission through Obito's eyes.)

how soon is now

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Team Kakashi is a combat team, and for their dynamic to work, they need to stick closely together at all times.

It's only with a slightly bitter taste on his tongue that Obito admits Kakashi is their team leader for a reason - strong and smart enough to be considered jounin-level, there's no way either Obito or Rin would manage to get their team out of so many life-threatening situations with as little injuries as the Hatake does.

The Uchiha boy isn't weak, by any means; he understands he's well-earned his chunin promotion, and using the sharingan feels as natural as fire jutsu for him. He might not be a genius like his younger cousins or Kakashi, but he packs a mean punch, and under the guidance of his teammates and Minato-sensei, his chakra control has gotten good enough to the point he can throw C and B-ranked jutsu around with little problem.

Rin, as the medic-nin of their team and well on her way to becoming one of Konoha's best, isn't allowed to fight an opponent on her own unless it really can't be helped, but the kunoichi knows her fair share of long-ranged water jutsu and is, by no means, a pushover.

More often than not, Kakashi takes point of their team formation while Rin stays in the middle and Obito brings up the rear, and it's a very efficient way to bulldoze their way out of fights. After a mission gone particularly bad - a battle against a few Kumo ninja, where Obito awakened his sharingan - they've always stayed close together, so that one is constantly watching the others' six.

It's something their bodies are more than used to, at this point, and when they're nearly separated during the mission to destroy the Kannabi Bridge, grabbing onto each other is automatic. There's a fraction of a second in which the three children meet each other's eyes before they're being plunged into a cave system, the darkness suddenly all-enveloping and limiting their movements for a few, precious seconds.

Obito catches sight of a pair of sharingan eyes and instantly activates his own-

He's thrown face down in a world that's so similar to their own, yet so vastly different. Images he can't begin to comprehend flash rapidly before his sharingan eyes - Rin, dying a gruesome, horrible death; Obito himself, trying to do good through the worst ways; Kakashi, barely managing to keep himself afloat in the midst of his neverending sea of guilt; Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei, dying on the very day their son was born, because of Obito unleashing the Nine Tailed Demon Fox.

(Uchiha Obito awakens his mangekyou sharingan at the age of twelve. He accidentally travels to another reality, one where Chiyuki doesn't exist, and decides he's having none of it.)

'Oh? What's this?'

A voice that's decidedly not his reverberates in his skull, breaking the impromptu dimension travel, and images of his interactions with Chiyuki pop up in his mind, unbidden. Something icy cold chills the Uchiha boy to the bone, slimy and constricting, and he knows absolutely nothing good is gonna come out of the way the intruder in his head focuses on the blonde child.

'Hokage? How absolutely precious.'

The voice sneers, sarcasm dripping from every word like deadly poison, and the scenery shifts again. This time, Obito isn't a mere bystander, but someone who-

-the hands that are gripping the kunai are his, but not. He feels himself trying to let go of the sharp weapon, trying to drop it to the ground and kick it far away, but his hands merely grip it tighter. His traitorous legs take him to the Sarutobi Princess, the one that's grown immensely on him, the first one to tell him he'd be a great shinobi - and just as his voice calls out to her, he stabs her with the kunai.

Blood immediately gushes out of the fatal wound, and the Uchiha can merely stand and watch as those brown eyes slowly lose focus and dim out, but not before they send a look of betrayal so deep and so raw that he wails.

"NO!"

This time, arms that are his own and obey to his will quickly grip the slowly falling girl, clutching desperately at his friend's body.

'You did this.'

The voice whispers sinisterly, maliciously, and Obito shakes his head so hard he starts to get dizzy.

"No, no! That wasn't me! That was you!"

'Who, me? Those weren't my hands, though.'

The voice gets increasingly annoying, mocking Obito and everything he's ever known, all his bonds, the people he holds close to his red, burning heart-

Chiyuki's body vanishes from his arms and reappears just a couple of meters in front of him, back turned. The Uchiha scrambles to his feet, desperate to get to his friend, trembling hands reaching out.

Red gushes out of the fatal wound and splashes on his face, dizzyingly warm, and it takes him a couple of seconds to look down and see his hands gripping the kunai, and Chiyuki looks back at him with tears in her eyes.

"Obito, how could you?"

Once again the blonde child falls to the ground, but this time he's unable to catch her in time. He kneels next to her and grips her shoulders, the fabric of her hoodie bunching up in his tight clutch.

"Chiyuki! It wasn't me!"

She closes her eyes and dies at his hand - again.

"Chiyuki!"

'Tsk, tsk, tsk.'

The scene repeats itself, again and again, again and again, breaking him a little bit more each time. He struggles against himself every time, snarling and growling at the voice in his head, and even if he considers giving up, even if he thinks about simply letting go-

"You're going to be one of the best shinobi in the world, Obito. I know so."

He wrestles against himself each and every time, because she promised him. The child with the too bright eyes, who spoke about things he didn't understand sometimes, who said she was sorry when he awakened his sharingan, she promised him.

'Give up, boy. No Kage could ever fix this rotten world.'

She promised him.

His exhausted, weary body grips her form for the millionth time, his dark eyes struggling to focus on her pale face.

She promised him.

"Obi? You're fine. I'm fine. We're both fine."

Her hand caresses his cheek, and his eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. Her chocolate brown eyes look at him with trust and kindness, a small smile playing on her lips, and Obito finally lets go.

She kept her promise.

"It's okay, Obito. We're okay."