I do NOT own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

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Obito tugged his hood lower, trying desperately to keep the rain out of his eye. He didn't feel cold or hot anymore, but this rain was annoying. He hated the tiny droplets of water with their constant barrage on his skin and clothes. Their stupid incessant need to find their way into his eye. They crossed the border into the Rain Country a couple of days ago, and ever since then the rain has found its way onto Obito. Asami seemed to enjoy the rain, much to Obito's chagrin.

He missed his days in Konoha, they seemed so simple no matter how much he said he didn't like it. He missed arguing with Kakashi, he missed talking with Rin, he missed begging Minato-Sensei to train him, he even missed his banter with Kushina. Yet he knew he could never go back, not with Rin gone. Before he graduated the academy and joined Team Minato, all he had was Rin. She was his first friend, his best friend, his confidant, his one love. He was an orphan, one who was belittled by his own clan. He was constantly bullied by the other Uchiha, and because of that people outside of the clan bullied him as well. He had no one to come home too, until he met her.

Rin found him after three young Uchiha boys were teasing him about not being to do a fireball, she took his hand and brought him to a park. And then she played with him. It was the first time in his life that someone his age spent any time with him. Obito had tried so hard to build a connection with someone that finally someone was allowing him to do so. And they did, she became his first friend. His first human connection.

Obito spent so much time trying to keep the darkness that threatened to wrap its grubby hands around his heart away with optimism and a bright attitude. But when Rin came into his life, he didn't need to try. The darkness was kept away by her light, and the personality he developed to keep it at bay became more natural. It became him. It was just Rin and Obito, then they met Kakashi. At the time, a young boy who Obito saw himself in. He knew how it was to be alone, so he tried to build a connection with him. Rin was just naturally friendly to everyone; she didn't need to try. He slowly started to become friends with Kakashi, until Kakashi started to surpass him in everything. Kakashi could cook, whereas Obito had troubles using a toaster. Kakashi was becoming a skilled shinobi, whereas Obito kept failing miserably. And worst of all Kakashi had Rin's admiration and love, something Obito wanted more than anything.

Quickly he went from wanting to have a connection with Kakashi, to wanting to beat Kakashi. He went from being friendly, to overflowing with jealousy. He started to hate Kakashi, most of all he hated his dismissing attitude towards Rin's affections. He hated how dejected she looked after Kakashi refused her advances. She hid it well, but Obito could see it. She would never talk to him about it, but then again, she didn't need to.

Just as he would never tell her his own feelings. He knew he would be rejected. And with that rejection he worried he would lose his friend. He didn't want that. She never would know how important she was to him. How much her belief in him, pushed him to try harder. Everything he worked towards was for her. Including his dream to become Hokage. It started as wanting to be acknowledge by others but turned to wanting to only be acknowledge by her. If he became Hokage he would have surpassed Kakashi, and then he would be able to tell her that he loved her. She truly was the light of his life. With that light snuffed out, there was no more Konoha for him. Every thing there would remind him of her. Even now miles away, the smallest things would remind him of her.

"How much longer Tobi-Sensei?" Asami asked from behind him, breaking him away from his thoughts.

"I told you to stop calling me that." He responded.

"But its your name isn't it?" She snickered.

"The sensei part isn't. Just call me Tobi." Obito retorted.

"I'll give it a try Tobi-Sensei!" she exclaimed.

Obito scoffed at her. She could be a tad bit annoying, but she was good company. Well, it was better than being alone with just Zetsu. Thankfully with Asami's presence Zetsu has only appeared at night after she has fallen asleep. Mostly to ask him about how he is going to go about Madara's plan. A plan that truthfully Obito had nothing after getting Nagato on his side. He had some ideas, but he wasn't sure on how to put them into effect. He knew he had to collect bijuu, and he hoped that this Akatsuki group had strong enough shinobi to do so, otherwise he would need to find some. He has been thinking that S-Class missing nin would work, but he didn't know what would motivate a criminal enough to join a peaceful organization.

He knew from some of Madara's memories a vague location for some of the bijuu. The Ichibi was somewhere in Suna, the Hachibi was somewhere in Kumo, and the Kyubi was somewhere in Konoha. That was a fact that confused Obito, he never heard of Konoha keeping a bijuu. He guessed that maybe the Kyubi was sealed inside someone, but he couldn't guess as to who. It was also probable that a majority of the bijuu were sealed inside of someone. It was harder to find a jinchuriki than it was to find a massive bijuu. Therefore, he would need to gather information while he tried to form a group strong enough to capture bijuu. A seemingly impossible task, hence another reason on his hesitance to follow along with Madara's plan.

Obito watched Asami jump into a puddle splashing more water around her already wet surroundings. She was still so much a child, but she was more mature than Obito was at that age. She sadly lost her parents to a war between the smaller countries. Unlike Obito she had to live on the streets, therefore forcing her to become quickly mature. And she was learning quickly, a fact that rather annoyed Obito. Once he taught her the basic of chakra control, she was able to manipulate her chakra. They only trained at night before they settled for dinner, and even then they would spend a majority of time training in taijutsu and ninja weaponry. In the few nights of training, she still managed to improve greatly. He could guess that if she had gone to the academy, she would be proclaimed a prodigy like Kakashi.

While Obito was jealous of her ability soak up information like a sponge, he couldn't deny the fact that he was getting stronger as well. He didn't know if it was because of the Hashirama cells, or his new sharingan, or both, but he was improving quickly as well. He would train by himself after his nightly talks with Zetsu. He would leave two shadow clones to watch over Asami, and train until the morning. Since he has left the cave, his chakra reserves have become 3x larger and still steadily increasing, his strength was on par with any jounin, and his jutsu was stronger than he could have imagined. He has also experimented with other chakra natures, finding he was able to use all five including yin and yang. Madara taught him a few jutsu that he has already mastered, therefore he has asked some of the White Zetsu to find jutsu scrolls, to aide in increasing his jutsu arsenal.

Obito wasn't sure what happened to him after that surge of power after Rin was killed, but it made him happy that he was strong, and still getting stronger. The only problem was he wished that Rin was still alive to see it.

"Tobi-Sensei can we please stop and rest, its already getting dark?" Asami asked.

"We are almost there; we can rest after we find a place in Ame." Obito answered.

"Oh man, but I'm so tired." Asami whined.

"You'll be fine, we are going to skip training tonight anyways."

"What? Why? I can still train!" Asami exclaimed.

"I know you can, but how do you expect to train in the middle of a village? We can look for a good spot to train tomorrow."

"Fine." Asami huffed, "why are we going to Ame anyways?"

"I'm searching for someone. Last I heard he was in Ame." Obito responded.

"Oh, who we looking for?" Asami probed.

"Asami enough with the questions, please." Obito groaned.

"Okay, okay. I guess I'll just ask later." Asami responded.

The pair continued walking in the rain towards their destination. Once they reached the outskirts of the last small village before Ame, they overheard one of the locals talking about some fighting going on the west side of the village.

"Asami, I want you to keep at least 15 meters behind me. I'm going to check what is going on. If I get in the fight, do not jump in unless I say so." Obito ordered. Great, I sound like Minato-Sensei.

"You got it Tobi-Sensei!" Asmai grinned with a salute.

Obito rolled his eyes, Now I feel like Minato-Sensei. He took off jumping on the roofs, following the rising chakra signatures. He quickly glided from on top of the roofs, until he finally reached the battle. He saw an orange haired teenager wearing a black cloak trying to subdue what looked like two bandits. He looked slightly to the left, as another teenager with the same cloak and blue hair fight against another bandit. And a little passed her was a red head teen standing his ground against three bandits. Obito's eyes widened as he noticed the rippled purple eyes on the red head. Madara's eyes.

Obito quickly pulled out his mask made from Swirly and put it on. Guess Madara needs to make his grand entrance. Obito jumped off the roof, using his sharingan and a doton he sank into the ground. He traversed through the earth towards the red head. Obito grabbed the legs of one of the bandits fighting the red head, and he pulled into the ground while he popped up to the surface. The bandit was buried with only his head sticking out. Obito quickly kicked his head, snapping his neck. Obito then wrapped his arm around the other bandit's neck, squeezing the life from him. By the time, the bandit's friend noticed Obito, the other bandit was dead. The small distraction was enough for the red head teen to knock the bandit out.

"Are those two your friends?" Obito asked his voice much lower than normal. Nagato nodded. "Then I'll help them." As Obito ran passed the unconscious bandit, he thrusted a wooden rod through his heart.

Obito reached the blue haired teen first, he promptly killed the bandit she was fighting with a quick wooden rod through his throat. Obito then ran to the orange haired teen, who had successfully restrained one of the bandits. Obito stopped only to snap the restrained bandit's neck and moved in between the teen and the bandit. Obito struck the bandit with a punch, sending him flying through the air. Obito quickly went through hand signs, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" The flames engulfed the bandit, the quick flash of heat killing him immediately.

"Why would you kill him!" The orange haired teen yelled. "If we could have calmed them down everything would have been fine. They were just stealing food because they were hungry. They didn't deserve to die!" During the teen's rant, his two friends come up to his side. Both eyeing Obito carefully, ready for any signs of him attacking.

"You guys were in trouble; I did what needed to be done." Obito responded in a deep voice.

"That didn't need to be done. We could have helped them." The blue haired teen said.

"She's right." The red head said.

"They would've joined us, if we had the chance to talk to them." The orange haired teen added.

"They weren't fighting to subdue you; they were trying to kill you. I only did to them what they tried to do to you." Obito replied as his thoughts flew around in his head. He didn't know why his first instinct was to kill them. It all felt so natural to him, he felt the need to terminate those bandits. It was troubling for him, that was never something he would have done before unless he knew they were true enemies.

"I think you should leave before you cause more trouble." The orange haired teen said.

"That is not something I can do. I am here to help you protect his eyes."

"What do Nagato's eyes have to do with this." The orange haired teen responded.

"There are those who would wish to use his eyes for their own gain. I am here to ensure that does not happen. As well as help him control the power of his eyes." Obito explained.

"We don't want you here, leave." The orange haired teen barked.

"I'll leave for now, but I'll stay close by."

"That's not good enough for me."

"Well, that is unfortunate for you. It does not really matter to me whether or not that is good for you. I am here to help him, and only him." Obito said. Who am I right now? I don't talk like this! Obito yelled in his mind.

The orange haired teen pulled his arm back, "I said to leave!" His arm flew forward.

"Tobi-Sensei watch out!" Asami yelled from behind him.

The fist flew through Obito's head as his mangekyo activated. The teen stumbled forward phasing through Obito. Obito jumped backed a few yards, turning around placing his index on top of where his lips would be. Asami nodded.

"Who is that?" The blue haired teen asked.

"She is my student of sorts. She is a war orphan I found, who wanted nothing more than to have a friend and become stronger." Obito responded.

Nagato looked at Obito and then to Asami with an understanding look, "Yahiko I think we should give them a chance."

"I'm still not sure, what is your name?" Yahiko asked.

"For now, you can just call me Tobi." Obito answered.

"So, Tobi is not your real name?" Yahiko questioned.

"No, it's an alias. I'll tell you my real name when we learn to trust each other." Obito responded.

"Why do you want to protect Nagato and his eyes?" Yahiko inquired.

"I only want to ensure peace. A way to do that is to keep his eyes safe." Obito divulged.

"I'm still don't fully trust you, but you and your student can come with us." Yahiko relented.

Obito nodded, he turned to Asami, "You can come now Asami." Asami slowly walked to the group, a curious look on her face. "What's wrong Asami?" Obito asked.

"Why are you talking like that Tobi-Sensei? And why are you wearing a mask?" Asami responded.

Oh shit! "This is how always talked." Obito quickly leaned over to Asami's ear, "just go with it I'll answer your questions later. Promise." Obito whispered to her in his normal voice. Asami nodded.

The blue haired teen giggled at the two strangers before going up to Asami. "Hi, my name is Konan why don't you come with me, and we'll see about getting you some clean clothes."

"Okay!" Asami exclaimed following Konan.

Obito sighed, I don't know how to feel about this.

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Kakashi waited nervously in front of the Hokage's office. He didn't know how to broach the subject that was weighing on his mind to the new Yondaime Hokage. Thankfully, he already had a relationship with the new Hokage; Namikaze Minato. A week after the war ended, Minato-Sensei was announced as the Youndaime Hokage. Their team had a small celebration for him. One that Kakashi wished he didn't go to. It wasn't that he wasn't happy for his sensei, it was that he felt so guilty being around Rin. He failed her. He failed Obito. If it wasn't for the Sanbi she would be dead. And it would be his fault.

He never wanted to feel the way again. He hated feeling as his whole world was crashing down around him. He's felt it three times now, when his father died, when Obito died, and now when he thought Rin had died. He would do anything to avoid feeling, even if it meant leaving his team. Which is what he was prepared to do.

"Enter!" A voice called from behind the door. Kakashi opened the door and entered. "Oh! Kakashi, its so great that you came to see your sensei." Minato exclaimed.

Kakashi slowly shut the door, "Hokage-sama."

"You don't have to call me that Kakashi, your my student. You can continue to call me sensei, or just Minato if you think we are close enough. I certainly think so." Minato said.

"It's better if we follow the rules regarding courtesy towards the Hokage." Kakashi explained.

"Well, it's great to see that you don't change." Minato smiled. "So, did you come just for a visit, or did you want to talk to me about something?"

"I actually did have something to bring up to you, Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied. Minato leaned back on his chair, waiting for Kakashi to continue. "I would like to request to join the ANBU blackops."

"Why?" Minato asked sitting up.

"Because I can't be a part of team 7 anymore. After loosing Obito, and almost Rin. I can't be around you guys anymore. If I was a better shinobi, then both of them would be around." Kakashi explained.

"Kakashi, Rin is still here."

"I know and that's a problem for me. Every time I see her all I feel is guilt. I'm reminded constantly of how I broke my promise to Obito. He asked one thing when he gave me this eye, that was to keep her safe and I failed! And I barely see Rin anymore, it's like she is avoiding me because of my failure!" Kakashi started off in his normal monotone voice, before ending with a yell.

"Rin isn't avoiding you." Minato assured.

"She is, before Obito died she used to be around all the time. Now she isn't. Please Hokage-sama, allow me to join the ANBU." Kakashi pleaded.

Minato sat thinking for a few moments, "She is still grieving for Obito, she spends a lot of her time at the Memorial Stone. She is also still learning medical ninjutsu, and recently she has Kushina-chan training her. She is not avoiding you. But to your request to join ANBU, as your Hokage I'll grant your request. But as your Sensei and friend, I wish you'd reconsider this action."

"I've thought about it enough Hokage-Sama, this is what I want." Kakashi said.

"Okay, then I'll fill out the paperwork and talk to the ANBU commander. I'll summon you tomorrow so you can begin your process of joining ANBU." Minato replied.

"Thank you, Hokage-Sama." Kakashi said with a bow.

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"Kushina-neechan! Why do you fight so weird?" Rin asked after a punch sent her to the ground.

"What do you mean, 'ttebane?" Kushina asked.

"Your fighting style is so unorthodox, it kinda reminds me of the way Obito fought, it's kinda wild and brawly. There's no discernible pattern. It's weird, especially considering Kakashi and Minato-Sensei are so technical with their taijutsu." Rin explained.

"Oh, that's what you mean. I barely learned taijutsu in the academy, I actually developed my own style, since it fit me more than textbook taijutsu. I call it Habanero style" Kushina said with a laugh.

"Why Habanero style?" Rin asked.

"That's because of my nickname all the kids in class gave me after a beat a couple of those mean bullies. My nickname was, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, 'ttebane!" Kushina answered.

"I've never heard anyone call you that Kushina-neechan." Rin said.

"Oh, that's because most people are too afraid to say it to my face." Kushina said with a wicked smile on her face.

"You can be really scary." Rin joked.

"Yes, I can. Now let's get back to the training."

Rin has been proud of her progress with her training. Under Kushina's tutelage she has already learned three water ninjutsu, and thanks to Kushina's awkward fighting style her taijutsu has increased by leaps and bounds. She is also currently practicing her calligraphy so she can learn fuinjutsu. She has continued in her study of medical ninjutsu. Overall Rin was feeling excited about her progression.

Every night she went to bed, tired and sore, she couldn't help herself from smiling. She was getting stronger. She'll no longer cause anyone trouble because she was weak. After she asked Kushina to train her, she begged Minato to leave her off missions for a while. When he asked her why she told him the truth, at first, she thought about saying she needed to make her body stronger after her injury. Which was true in a way, but not the full truth. Once she was in front of her sensei, she knew she couldn't lie.

He accepted her reasonings even after a couple of failed assurances, in the end he allowed her to stay off missions. Kushina has been so excited about training Rin, her enthusiasm even helped spill over to Rin. It helped keep her thoughts away from Obito and the guilt that threatened to overtake her. Kushina's excitement for training someone, has often made Rin wonder why she didn't have her own gennin team.

If she thought about it, Kushina rarely went on missions as well. As far as Rin knew Kushina was always around the village. She decided she was going to aske her. Rin avoided one of Kushina's wild attacks, she ducked lower and hit her in the stomach. Kushina's eyes widened, using a futon she sent Rin flying with a gust of wind.

"Watch the stomach, Dattebane!" Kushina exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Rin squeaked. Wait stomach. "Is your stomach hurting?" Rin asked.

"No. Um… yes, but not because I'm ill." Kushina sighed, she sat down in the grass. "Here sit down I guess now's a good time to tell you."

Rin sat down looking at Kushina curiously. "What's going on Kushina-neechan?" Rin asked.

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I guess you can figure out what Kushina is going to tell Rin. I'll be honest I find the timeline for Obito kinda vague, after his time in the cave until the start of Naruto. I believe he was 14 when he attacked Konoha, I also think he was 13 when the Kanabi Bridge mission happened. And basing of his hair growth, he had to be stuck there for almost a year. I would also think that after he successfully got Nagato under his control, he had things set up to where he could capture the Kyubi. So how long did that take. I guess I'll take a few liberties since the timeline is so uncertain.

Anyways I hope you liked the chapter, please leave a review letting me know what you think! Also thank you for those who have gave reviews, and followed, and favorited this story. I really appreciate it, it truly motivates me to keep writing for this story.