Chapter 30: A Fleeting Return
"Farewells can be shattering, but returns are surely worse. Solid flesh can never live up to the bright shadow cast by its absence. Time and distance blur the edges; then suddenly the beloved has arrived, and it's noon with its merciless light, and every spot and pore and wrinkle and bristle stands clear."
― Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
Obito/Tobi & Kabuto- Akatsuki Hideout
"Aren't you going to say hello?"
Rin smiles, takes a step forward right into his personal space.
Even her voice holds that same melodious charm from his childhood that taunted at several of his dreams and waking thoughts.
His fingers twitch for her cheek, but then he's hit with the scent of blood and ash.
'No, it's not actually her.' His mind knows.
But his heart hesitates still in shock.
So Rin meets him halfway with his hand frozen in the air, guiding his hand to her cheek before giggling in that way that always used to make his stomach lurch in joy. Just once he'd wished for her eyes to turn to him this way, to gaze at him so lovingly like he's the only one she needs in the world.
"Come on Obito, aren't you tired of these disguises? These lies?" She urges gently.
Obito shifts his weight from foot to foot, ready to respond that he did all this for her before biting his tongue, blood trickling down his throat. Her fingertips are cold, her sclerae the black of midnight.
Tobi. He needs to be Tobi right now and not the foolish boy with a crush on the girl who never became his red thread.
'What's wrong with me?'
His stomach drops at his silly behavior, harshly shoving her back.
'She's dead. Rin died years ago.' He reminds himself.
The woman before him now is just a machination of dirt, mud, and ash.
He steels his gaze back towards Kabuto clearly amused with his brief change of demeanor.
"How? Did you need to sacrifice some experiment or lost shinobi to bring her back?" Obito sneers.
And why back to this ugly and imperfect world that took her away in the first place?
Kabuto chuckles, giving nothing fully away of his secrets and notes. "That's where I've surpassed Orochimaru as I was saying. This really is Rin's soul just implanted into a fresh body. I just need a tissue sample or even blood from a victim to complete the reincarnation. Sure, she doesn't have a heartbeat or blood pumping through her, but she's alive and here before you just like you always wanted, right? You couldn't have her as your red thread, so here's your second chance."
Obito analyzes for only a few seconds this construction of flesh that looks and sounds like the Rin he knew from his Academy Days, smiles at him with a light flush she used to only reserve for Kakashi.
Enough for him to know this truly isn't her.
"Destroy whatever that thing is and leave this area before I kill you." He orders sharply.
Kabuto grins cheekily. "Oh, don't worry! I have no use for Rin considering she died before she even reached adulthood, her current abilities and skill are that of a mere genin. I just wanted you to see her so that you know what bodies I'm capable of bringing back! Death of old enemies will no longer stop the growing Allied Shinobi Forces and your identity not as Madara Uchiha, but as Obito Uchiha will reveal itself soon enough to the masses; including the remaining Akatsuki members still alive."
Obito ignores his declaration, steels his heart not to crumple again as Kabuto casually undoes the reincarnation. Rin's body fades as that of the deceased merchant used to summon her collapses to a heap in the ground.
The unknown woman's hazel orbs are glassy with dried tears to her cheeks, mouth agape in silent shock. They look similar to Konan's after he finally disposed of her, corpse miles away floating in the sea, hopes for the organization sinking underwater with her...
He blows out a slow breath kicking the body from view, forces his gaze back to Kabuto.
"What do you want?" He grits out.
Kabuto hums thoughtfully as if he doesn't already have a hunch.
He wants what his old Master could never get in life.
"Sasuke. Where is he at the moment?"
Obito shrugs. "Recovering at one of the old bases I'm sure."
Kabuto nods, probably assumed as much.
He snaps his fingers and a series of coffins rise behind him, Obito reviewing them all in recognition.
"Fine, we'll form a temporary alliance you could say. In the interim, I'm sending these bodies out to attack the various villages, to find the last two jinchuriki. This will be a war that's so much more than just the usual bloodshed." Kabuto smiles.
Sasuke & Sakura
"She's not coming Sasuke." Suigetsu declares somewhere between the 3rd and 5th night after their disastrous assignment to take out and capture the Eight Tails.
They can't keep staying holed up in here, eventually Tobi will assign them another task.
Or Kabuto will go on prowl for them. Either way, they can't hang around one of Orochimaru's old bases waiting for one of them to show.
"You're wrong." Sasuke grunts back.
Between bouts of fever and nausea he still senses his thread's pulse, knows Sakura got his silent message that he's truly injured. True, she could be doing her damnedest to ignore the pain thrumming from their shared connection, but the ache of their thread bond should soon get to be too much even for her.
It's just a waiting game now.
Exactly 8 days later he feels her presence in the room, that annoying and enticing scent of lilies and jasmine filling his nose. She waltz around Suigetsu's sleeping form, smiles as his gentle snores fill the room.
"I don't think he'll awaken again until mid-morning tomorrow at the earliest! He and Jugo deserve some proper rest after helping stop you from dying."
Sasuke rolls his eyes. 'Because you drugged them both with one of your wasps.'
"What the hell did you do to yourself or get into this time?" Sakura questions, voice instantly turning clipped and icy.
Their usual greetings as of late.
Sasuke observes her silently in return, face half in moonlight as she assesses him up and down.
"I took on Killer B." He finally says.
"And loss. Horribly." Sakura adds.
Her gaze turns towards his bandages, lips scrunching in that way it always does when she's deep in thought.
"Who wrapped these bandages? They did a shit job of it. You'll take months to heal if this keeps up." She sighs.
Sasuke thinks of Suigetsu and his many difficulties deciding with bandage to use and distractions on swords he wants to add to his collection, trying and clearly failing to properly pack and secure his wounds.
"He tried his best." He grudgingly admits.
'What took you so long?' Sasuke studies her again, Sakura smirking at his glare.
She laughs mirthlessly, fingers pressing at where his darkest bruises shades of purples and reds mar his skin. "I made sure to drag it out Sasuke. 8 days exactly for the Eight Tails you so thoroughly screwed up in catching."
Sasuke sits upright, ignores shockwaves of pain rippling through every jab he took from B. Sakura watches him absently, fingers resting at the edge of his bed refusing to aid him just yet.
She's going to make him admit it, no matter how much it annoys him.
"I need your help Sakura; I know this pain is bothering you just as much as it does me." Sasuke relates.
Sakura grin softens, fingers dancing across his chest that makes him heat despite his body's current state. "Does it? I'm not the one with 6 wounds in my chest."
Still, Sasuke feels her heart hammering as she leans in beside him.
This close he could close the gap and kiss her, remind her of all the favorite spots he's touched her before that could bring her to sweet moans and writhing beneath him...
But the rage in her eyes stops him, pushing said thoughts away.
"I've long been done with letting my heart dictate my mind's actions Sasuke." Sakura hisses tightly.
Sasuke snorts lowly in return, neither of them can truly believe that. "And yet, here you are."
Embers flare to life in her chest she puts out before they can spread and burn.
Sakura moves to back away from him, Sasuke grabbing onto what strength he has left to grip at her arm, forcing her to gaze back to him again. Verdant eyes turn into a thunderstorm and he knows Sakura can double his pain if he doesn't convince her soon.
"Everything between us Sakura has always been real. You see through my lies, you know what's typically running through my mind even without me saying it aloud." He voices earnestly.
Pain ripples across her chest. It's not fair that Sasuke can keep messing and breaking her heart like this while his features, his emotions are always kept hidden from her by that infuriating stoic mask he always has on.
"You still love me." Sasuke pushes seeing her own mask start to crumple.
Sakura bites her lip, breaks his grip.
Her gaze instantly hardens with barely subdued fury, jabbing straight at his chest, waits for his face to finally start to wince from the pressure.
"Do you love me?" She asks right back.
Sasuke blows out a breath, he should've expected this question.
"Yes. No. I can't focus on love knowing what Konoha made Itachi do Sakura-"
"So where does it end Sasuke? How many people have to die until your revenge is satisfied? Wasn't killing Danzo enough? What about all the innocent civilians who weren't even involved in the Uchiha massacre? Do they deserve to die in you destroying Konoha for simply being born there? How is that any better than what Danzo and Lord Third's advisors did to you?" She intercepts with a bombard of questions.
Sasuke's mood darkens to match hers. What would Sakura know of his pain anyways? A simple girl from civilian parents, a girl who never had to deal with the tragedies of family deaths or family members traumatizing her.
Sakura balls a fist against his sheets. "If you say I don't understand your pain than so help me, I'm punching you unconscious and leaving you as you are now. Yes, I didn't grow up the same way you, Naruto, and even Kakashi-sensei did. I know my childhood wasn't marred with death and blood on my hands. Hell, the worse I've dealt with was Pain's attack and Shizune's brief death along with Lady Tsunade's injuries, but why Sasuke would you want any child to have or go through that type of pain?"
Why continue this cycle of suffering and revenge?
Sasuke stays silent, leaning his head back against his pillows.
His gaze turns towards the window, the warmth of the night air doing nothing to ease the strain between them.
"...Are you going to help me or not?" Sasuke asks point blank.
Sakura flicks a bruise in response. "You're an asshole."
And a shutter falls over her eyes, maybe blocking out everything but here and now like him.
Because despite her curses, she still pulls up a chair and Sasuke restrains a sigh of relief. She undoes a bandage around his arm, sighing as flesh tears away in the process.
Her eyes meet his once more, smiling coolly.
"I hope you know I'm going to make this process more painful than need be."
Hinata
"You humans are so foolish, being guided by 'red threads' no matter who they are or what they've done." The tiger asserts.
It's still a bit startling this tiger understands human language, none of the other animals of the island have spoken to them.
"None of them find reason to talk to you." The tiger had stated at her questioning.
Hinata adamantly shakes her head. "You're wrong. I loved Naruto before I even knew he was my red thread match. And you're not taking into consideration red threads who can't overcome their differences, who end up breaking their thread tie no matter how passionate the connection may feel."
The tiger chuffs or at least that's what her face does that reminds Hinata of the act.
'Ugh, why am I even arguing with a tiger?!'
It's not like much research or data has been collected on if animals even get red threads the way people do.
"I didn't want to argue with you, umm do I call you Ms. Tiger or-
"Mamiko; not 'tiger or Ms. Tiger'. I was born right by these very seas many moons ago. The previous jinchuriki of the Eight Tails, Blue B named me during one of his many expeditions to this Island in an effort to master control of Gyūki. He failed where Killer B hasn't surprisingly in having control of his power and not letting the emotional turmoil of being a jinchuriki get to him."
Hinata follows Mamiko's gaze to the seas, waters remaining as rough as they were when they arrived hours ago. Afternoon sunlight makes the water glisten, blue-green waters crashing against the rocks.
She turns her stare to her. "Why did you want me to follow you?"
Mamiko stretches. "It's been so long since visitors from outside of Kumo have come to explore the island. Call it curiosity as well to see a jinchuriki actually have a red thread that didn't break ties with them or isn't dead. You said you needed a trainer to improve your lightning skills and I'm interested enough in seeing what a little Hyuga girl can do."
Hinata stiffens making her laugh.
"What? Did you think we didn't know anything about the other nations? The clans Kumo shinobi have come across in missions and wars?"
Hinata nods still in awe of her knowledge, though suspicion lingers on in her chest.
It's normally Hanabi who for so long their fellow clan members would gush over and want to train, she in the background.
It's never been her that's the interesting one.
Mamiko's gold-green orbs turn challenging. "Unless you don't think you're capable of taking on the training I have in mind? After all, you stood by while you're red thread was often alone, had nobody in his corner."
Shock morphs into anger, frowning at Mamiko's bemused grin.
Father would've never let her spend time around Naruto growing up, her feelings on matters haven't even been considered until he recently found out the truth regarding her feelings for Naruto, red thread connection or not.
Trickles of electricity spark to life along her fingers as Mamiko bears her teeth.
"Prove me wrong Hyuga child. You know little about the boy you love, having a red thread bond doesn't mean you know anything about his pain or suffering. The darker secrets he's kept from you."
She dodges a current of lightning, swoops into the darkness of the trees above.
Hinata activates her byakugan, watches as she prowls from branch to branch.
Her voice comes from behind, Hinata dipping low to the ground as she speaks again, pounce managing to nick her shoulder.
Pain ignites down her arm she forces herself to ignore, launching a flame of webs to the ground that catches her front legs before she can strike again. Mamiko growls lowly, shaking off the embers.
"Ah, so you have some tricks you've been hiding." She admires.
Hinata clenches her teeth. "You just met me, you have no right to judge me or the actions I've done in the past. Neither should you speak of Naruto and I's relationship like you know us."
Mamiko stalks closer in response, tail whipping at her legs.
"There's much you've yet to learn about Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata. I'm sure you'll learn that soon enough before either of you leave this island."
Naruto
'Is this real?'
His memories are shrouded in fog, he sincerely can't remember being back in Konoha's market districts. Bustle of noise surrounds him on all sides, spices filling the air along side varieties of meat, fish, and colorful fruits...
"Hinata? Where are we?" Naruto calls out.
"She isn't here. It's just you and I." A sharper voice mentions from his right making him turn only to see nothing.
'Wasn't I on a mission? I needed to get stronger, be honest with myself or something like that.' He wracks his mind, head dully aching in return.
People brush past him without sparing him a second glance, lips twisting into sneers or grimaces when he manages to catch a stranger's eye.
"The 13th anniversary is coming up soon, isn't it Kayumi?" A woman nudges her friend and Naruto bristles recognizing her intense glare on him.
"Yes, 13 long years since my Ogawa has been gone Yukiyo, where the does time go? I sincerely hope that brat doesn't get a red thread, a monster like him could one day have kids running around the village that could cause as much trouble as him."
Yukiyo nudges her harshly to lower her voice at Naruto's open staring, but Kayumi straightens her shoulders in clear disregard.
"Let that beast here me! I don't know why Lord Third allows him to roam free in the first place!"
"That's that old hag Kayumi, huh? Always hated that bitch, selling us expired food or even junk she got out of trash." The cold voice reappears and Naruto turns this time to fully see it isn't just the air talking to him, his very shadow morphing into his doppelgänger.
But scarlet eyes gaze back at him instead of familiar blue and his chest knots.
Those are the eyes of the Nine Tails, this beast he never asked for sealed within him.
The cause of this very hate.
Dark Naruto steps forward free from his shadow, smirks wickedly. "You agree with me, right? We need to teach that old bitch a lesson for talking like we're deaf."
Naruto laughs weakly in return, surely he's just joking.
"Ahh no, no! I mean, it's not that big of a deal and Lord Third says to ignore the stares or taunts-"
"Shut up with that crap! You and I both know Lord Third did nothing to stop these verbal taunts, stood by while people called us horrible names or ignored or existence until we left the area." Dark Naruto rolls his eyes.
And then he steps forward right up to Kayumi, sweeping his legs right under her feet sending her tumbling to the ground.
She gasps in shock, recoils backwards only to be pinned in place by his leg.
He draws a kunai out from his pocket, grins as her smug expression instantly turns to panic.
"No wait, please! I didn't mean it! I'm just...exhausted! That's all!" Kayumi shrieks.
"You're a pathetic old hag; did you actually think I wouldn't one day take my revenge on you?! Why is it my fault your son died in some damn battle I can't even remember? That I was apparently only a few hours old for?" Dark Naruto growls.
Naruto rushes up behind him, trying and failing to pull his hand away from Kayumi's neck.
"Stop it! This is all in the past y'know! I have friends and teammates now I can count on! I have Hinata!"
Dark Naruto gazes back at him once.
Then laughs.
He slides and jabs the blade straight into Kayumi's neck, beams in delight as blood pours out of her neck spraying them both. Yukiyo screams in horror, Dark Naruto flicking a shuriken at her throat to quiet her as well.
The pair crumple at their feet, crimson pooling out forming a half crescent.
Dark Naruto flicks off the blood, positively gleeful.
"That felt good! Finally shut her the hell up! Now, let's next go after that old fart who wouldn't sell us shinobi weapons, yeah? Or maybe those stupid old genins who can't even pass the chunin exams yet think they can talk down to us!"
Naruto shakes his head, trying to step back from him only to see they're bonded, where ever he steps, this shadow form of himself follows.
His shoulders slump at him not matching his excitement, frowning.
"Don't look so stunned, you felt that thrill race through you too, right? The civilians believe we're a monster so why not make some of their little theories a reality? Show that they truly shouldn't mess with us?"
"No, no! You're not listening to me, y'know! I'm not...we're not killers for just hell of it! I don't hate any of Konoha's shinobi or civilians for their past behavior and actions to me, I want to be Hokage to prove I'm not what they think of me, that I can attain peace-"
"Whatever I feel, you feel too. Stop lying to yourself." Dark Naruto interrupts.
A crowd has started to form, Old Man Third will probably give him his harshest punishment yet.
"Hinata has always liked me even before we became red thread matches, you and I both know that." Naruto counters.
Dark Naruto snickers, empty and chilling to his ears.
"Yeah? Well I'm sure Hinata would be disgusted once she learns we have these thoughts, don't cha think?"
"No, stop!" Naruto startles, sitting up.
The roar of the waterfalls drowns out his voice, sweat dripping down his chin. Flora various shades of yellows, violets, and reds glimmer in afternoon sunlight as he adjusts to his surroundings and finally remembers.
The Waterfalls of Truth.
'Right, I'm on the Island Turtle.'
Fingers lightly brushing along his cheeks freeze, Naruto gazing up to into lilac.
Hinata.
She hovers over him worriedly, swipes at damp corners of his cheeks and neck before smiling gently. His heartbeat slows in his ears, that wasn't real just now, just horrible images his mind conjured up to test him.
"You were thrashing about so much I worried you were going to fall into the water." Hinata explains.
Naruto grins tightly, pulls back from her taking in the crystal blue waters beside him.
'So I failed.'
Hinata pats at his arm and he tenses, if Hinata saw what he did in that fantasy/dream, would she truly look at him in disgust?
"Are you okay?" She asserts and Naruto manages a slow nod. He's always been terrible at hiding his true feelings or thoughts around her. Hinata, like nobody else he knows can see right through his bravados.
"Yeah, was just a bad nightmare kind of thing y'know."
One that he'll have to eventually face again.
Naruto & Hinata
Naruto refuses to talk about what exactly he saw in his vision and Hinata doesn't push.
Instead they spend until nightfall exploring more of the ins and outs of Turtle Island that Motoi never showed them. Spiky forests that go on for miles (geez, it really is like the Forest of Death back in Konoha to Naruto's shock), creatures that make burrows at the ends of trees to escape the creeping sunlight, swallowtails and cranes that dip their heads into the seas no matter how rough, always catching a silver-tailed fish within the clamp of their beaks.
"You know, besides the creatures that want to poison us or eat us, I can see why maybe that Killer B guy likes it here! It's quiet and this Island isn't exactly on any major maps." Naruto remarks.
Hinata nods, leaning against his shoulder. "Mamiko said it's because too many endangered species live here. Only people Killer B trusts along with a few researchers and scientists from Kumo are allowed to stop by here to collect samples and make sure the population of animals here are stable."
They're here in a sense like endangered species themselves, the Akatsuki shouldn't hopefully track their location here.
Hinata watches from the corner of her eye as the gears practically turn in Naruto's mind connecting the dots. Kakashi-sensei said not to tell him, but that didn't mean Naruto wouldn't figure things out on his own.
'Killer B doesn't exactly like either of us, especially since I insulted his rapping. The only other reason we might be here is for our own protection.'
"Are we being forcibly stuck here?" Naruto mutters.
Hinata half-smiles. "Yes, at least I believe until the Allied Shinobi Forces can take on and finish off the rest of the Akatsuki's remaining members."
Naruto groans, leaning them both back against a cross of grass and sand, where the waves meet this little alcove of beach. An earlier thunderstorm calmed the seas somewhat, cold seafoam lapping at their toes.
He leans into her, lips tasting of sea salt and rain before pressing her close thumbing at the curve of her hips.
Hinata giggles in Naruto's ear, cheeks flushing pink. "We're not having making love on the beach Naruto! All the sand and leftovers from the sea will get over us. Also Mamiko will tell all the other animals we have weird mating rituals."
Naruto arches a brow at her statement, pouting. "Does this tiger have a kink for watching humans go at it? We can't be the first people who thought of this y'know!"
Hinata flicks his forehead gently in return, kisses him hard before pecking gently at his pulse point. She can feel his rising erection, rubbing up against him briefly letting his mind drift away from whatever painful image he saw under the waterfall.
"We have to focus on our training." She states clearly, even if he can probably feel her desire as well as she rubs her legs together carefully.
Naruto rolls them over, expression dark with hunger before clearing, nodding and pulling back.
Kakashi finds them right as the sky turns a shade of pastel oranges and reds, eye crinkling with a grimness that straightens them both in panic.
"Motoi received an update from one of Konoha's patrolling shinobi during the morning shift; the alert has been sent out to all the nations. It seems from Kabuto using a mix of Orochimaru's old notes and his own experimenting that he's begun creating an army of the dead." He starts, not bothering to tease them over their crumpled attire. He gestures for them to follow him back further unto land so they can read the message to.
The penmanship along the scroll is sloppy, ink running and twisting in hurried loops of what was clearly a shaky pin.
A man afraid of what he just saw.
'Dead shinobi reported in the forests to the west of Konoha, all have blackened sclerae and bodies that sometimes move more like a puppet's than a human. Preliminary reports suggest they're being controlled under some form of genjutsu. They've broken into groups heading in all directions for each major shinobi nation, do not engage if at all possible.' They read together.
Below is a list of names of the reported shinobi seen, a mix of Akatsuki members, old shinobi from previous wars, loved ones deceased from disastrous missions...
It's the name towards the bottom though that makes Naruto shift backwards, throat clenching up as tears skim his eyes.
'No, not Pervy-Sage.'
He looks again to be sure and his stomach coils in, twisting to head for the trees quickly before everything he ate today comes back up.
Jiraiya's name is truly there.
-x-
A mix of old and new shinobi that came back from the dead will be used during this part of the War arc. The main final villains will be Obito and Madara before moving into a bit of the Boruto era. From the get go when I got this story idea, I could never see myself writing Kaguya in this alternate universe just so people hopefully don't get confused!
Pa-tre-ons got this story chapter early! I also post additional artwork, my original works, and extra goody NSFW content there. Feel free to stop by as I plan to hopefully build it to make polls on what you want to see me write next! I go by TheLovelyMidnightWriter there!
As always, I appreciate any thoughts!
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