I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

Obito gaped at Rin, thanking whatever god there was that he was still wearing his mask, he was sure that whatever look he had on his face wasn't great. Ignoring the pain he felt he asked, "how did you break the genjutsu?"

Rin gave him a smile that made his heart ache, "I have Isobu with me, he is the one that broke it after he freed himself." Rin kneeled in front of him, "your injured, let me heal you." She raised her hands the green glow of the Shōsen Jutsu already shinning.

Obito felt a guilt rise into his chest, he caught her right wrist with his left hand, "don't worry about it. I'll heal eventually." He looked down at the hole in his stomach and in a whisper, he said, "I don't deserve it."

Rin didn't hear that last part, "It's no problem really, better you get this healed now. It could cause major problems if you don't heal correctly."

Obito shook his head, "I'm already healing. I will be fine."

Rin puffed out her cheeks, "how many times have I told you to not hide your wounds, keep this up and I'm gonna hit you hard enough to break your mask."

Obito felt a heat rise to his face, once again thanking whatever god is out there that he did have his mask, "fine."

She placed her hands over his wound, he could feel her chakra accelerating his body's already great healing ability. "Wow you do heal fast!" Rin exclaimed, "my chakra is hardly making a difference that's incredible Obito."

"Um, thanks I guess." Obito replied, not sure of what else to say. How do you go about talking to someone you cared about after the things he's done? The seal Madara placed on him did push him to certain things, right? Obito couldn't answer, but his mind was feeling clearer than it has since he saw Rin almost die. Hopefully he will be able to dissect how much of who he is was the seal and how much was just who he is now.

He still felt a tinge of happiness for what he did to Danzo, the Kiri Anbu, and countless others he killed. He truly didn't know if he should be worried about that or not. He looked at Rin's concentrating eyes. The guilt began to grow within him so much so that he quickly turned his gaze to anything else. He didn't know if he was feeling guilty because of the atrocities he committed or because he really wasn't that young boy she fell in love with. Maybe it was a combination of both.

"Obito," Rin said breaking him from his musings, "can you take your mask off for me?"

Through his peripherals he could see that Rin's eyes were now on his mask. He nodded. He took a breath as his hand lifted the mask from his head. He set it down next to him. He still avoiding looking Rin in the eyes.

Her smile grew brighter, "thank you. I like you better when you're not wearing a mask." Obito felt a small surge in his heart. Rin continued, "you look tired Obito. Can you tell me what happened?"

Obito froze, could he tell her? What would she think of him if she knew everything? He already wasn't in that great of a light with his limited interactions with her when he was pretending to be Madara. The look on her face when he observed her from the distance still showed that she still saw light in this world. Even without the cursed seal, Obito still saw mostly darkness. He didn't want her to see the world as a black hell like he did.

"I don't want to." Obito answered.

Her smile fell into a frown, "you look like you need to talk to someone. You can still talk to me, you know. You used to tell me everything."

"I don't need to talk." Obito lied. He couldn't tell her. She just needed to believe he just fell a little off the path, not that he was trudging through blood and mud. He couldn't let the darkness that was him near her. Or his friends. They deserved more than what he can give them.

The dreams of being Hokage, of being married to Rin, of being a friend to Kakashi, and of continuing to learn from Minato-sensei were crushed. Along with the dream of the Infinite Tsukiyomi. That was no longer his goal. He still wanted peace, but he didn't know how to achieve it.

"Fine. But will you at least come home?" Rin asked in a hopeful tone, that tore at Obito's heart.

Knowing well that he was going to make her sad he said, "I don't have a home anymore." He needed to push her away. If he let her close he knew he would be happy, but he just couldn't. Not when there were still people who could end up like Asami. He had the power to change things, so shouldn't he forgo his own happiness for a chance of making this world a bit more peaceful before he died? Even if he was someone who was tainted by the darkness?

Tears began to swell in her eyes, "what happened to you? Why would you think that? You still have a home at Konoha!"

"Konoha is no longer my home." Obito replied with an impassive tone, ignoring the pain in his own heart for what he was doing.

A painful force smacked against the left side of his face. Rin glared at him tears now freely falling down her face, "how can you say that? You still have people who care about you! I still care about you! We don't care about what happened to you or the things you've done, we just want you back!" Rin took a deep breath, "I still want you back," she whispered. She shook her head, "I need you back. Do you have any idea how empty I felt when I thought you died? How long it took for me to move past the ache in my heart, every time I thought of you? How many times a week I went to visit your grave?"

Her hands fell to her side, and she clenched her fist, "we all were hurting after your accident. We thought you were dead. Even baby Naruto couldn't fill the void you left behind. We all miss you so much. So don't you dare say you have no home with the people who care about you."

Obito wanted to hug her, to tell her that he'll go anywhere she is, but he refrained. He's made his decision, "I can't go back. I'm not me anymore."

"That doesn't matter!" Rin roared, "any version of you is better than you not being there. I need you to come back home. I need you by my side again, because-because…" Rin took in a deep breath, "because I love you."

Obito was thankful he overheard her say those words to his graves. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to hide the surprise on his face. "I'm sorry Rin, but I'm not that naïve kid anymore. I'm someone who doesn't deserve those feelings."

Rin glared at him, "I'm the one who gets to decide whether or not you deserve my feelings. And I say you do. You think I'm blind or stupid? I know you went through some terrible things, and probably did some bad things. But that doesn't matter to me. As much as you tried to hide it, I can still see the caring person I fell in love with. If that you wasn't there no more you wouldn't have taken care of that girl, Asami. You would have killed me, and you had plenty of chances to do so." Rin leaned closer to Obito, "you'd be welcomed back with open arms Obito." Her hands rose and cupped his cheeks, "I'd welcome you home. I love you so much, so please come back home to me. Let's be together again." She leaned closer her lips inches away from his.

Obito almost felt entranced as she leaned closer. A war raged in himself between moving the rest of the way and taking her lips or pushing her away. He couldn't kiss her and not go back to Konoha. Therefore, he wasn't going to, no matter how much he wanted it. No matter how long he dreamt of this moment.

He put his hands on her shoulders, "I'm sorry Rin. I can't. Please don't come looking for me." Before she had the chance to refute what he said he activated his Kamui sending her back to where Minato-sensei was.

The heartbroken look on her face as she disappeared into the familiar vortex of his jutsu, put a pressure on his chest and a lump grew in his throat. He took a shaky breath, as he felt something wet fall down the right side of his face.

He ignored his tears as he set his mask over his face. Pushing her away hurt him, but he knew that his darkness would have ended up hurting her more. He stood up, hardening his eyes. Right now, his darkness can only do one thing for the betterment of the world, that was to fight against the darkness that had a chokehold on the world. And the one at the top of his list: Zetsu.

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Kakashi tended to the bruises that Obito caused. He was still having a hard time believing that masked man who has dominated him every time they fought was the same guy who couldn't even push Kakashi into trying hard when they sparred. Obito has finally surpassed him, like he always said he would.

He wanted to be happy that Obito has gotten so strong, but he couldn't bring himself to even pretend he was. He felt saddened, he didn't know what happened to force Obito to increase his strength so much so fast, but he was sure that his former teammate suffered. And that made him feel sad and guilty.

It was his fault that Obito was put into whatever situation that led him to being controlled. It was his fault that Obito was forced to attack the people he cared about.

Kakashi sat in the chair in Minato's living room. He felt so ashamed of his failures. He should have known Obito was still alive. He once again found himself regretting not letting himself get closer to Obito, if he did maybe Obito would have reached out.

He clenched his fist, how can he call himself a Konoha shinobi when he couldn't even help his friend. He hasn't felt so worthless since Rin jumped in front of his Chidori.

His guilt to losing Obito, then the guilt of hurting Rin made Kakashi try to distance himself from everyone. He didn't want to feel the pain of losing someone again. Maybe that's why Obito beat the shit out of him every time they fought, to help him realize how stupid he was being.

He may have lost his father, and he thought he lost Obito. But his whole team was still here, and from the looks they've given him he could tell they wanted him to fully integrate into the little group they called a family. And with Obito coming back he could already hear him yelling at him to quit being so evasive and let himself be happy.

That thought made him smile. He had his family. They were all alive. All they're missing now is him. This time he wasn't going to disappoint them. He is done being afraid.

"How are you doing, Kakashi?" Minato asked as he entered the living space.

"Anxious." Kakashi answered, he saw the surprise on Minato's face. He knew his sensei was expecting his usual response of 'fine.'

Minato smiled as he sat across of him, "I am as well." He leaned into the couch releasing a loud sigh.

"Why are you anxious Sensei?" Kakashi asked.

Once again Minato held a look of surprise before smiling, "I'm anxious for Obito to return. I know he is probably not the kid we remember him as, but him just being alive makes me happy. I just hope he can still recognize that this is his home. I'm also worried about who could possibly control a shinobi as strong as Obito has become."

Kakashi nodded, "I feel the same." Whoever did control Obito was more than likely going to be a huge problem soon, but this time he'll protect them. Obito included. No one will die this time.

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Rin wiped away the last of her tears. She's been back in the clearing where they fought Obito for about an hour crying. He rejected her. He rejected everyone. And the pain in her heart hurt more than Kakashi's Chidori.

She stood up and cleaned away the dirt from her skirt. She than began to make the trek to Minato-sensei's house. Her thoughts still on Obito. What could have happened to him? What could make him not want to come home? And why the hell wouldn't he answer her fucking questions?

Rin groaned in frustration. She was a mess of emotions, but she still wanted nothing more than for Obito to come back home. And he once again pushed her away, thankfully without a genjutsu this time. She wanted to know what was going on in his head, she wanted to understand why he was doing this. Didn't he miss them? Did he miss her?

Just after she thought Obito died, Kakashi told her that Obito was in love with her. At first, she didn't know what to think, besides believing she was going to die as well. She stupidly told Kakashi that she loved him when it was clearly an infatuation with him. She was only drawn because he was strong, like she wanted to be. With Obito, he made her smile. He made her happy. He was the reason she was so excited to meet with her team every morning. She truly loved him even back then.

Her guilt for what happened to Obito also kept her from learning what her feelings were. When she realized she wished she could turn back time and slap her past self. She probably could have had an even happier life. Unfortunately, things didn't work that way. And now he was back, and she knows what her feelings are, but it seemed it wasn't reciprocated.

She tried to get close to Kaito after she fought Kakuzu, but he didn't make her feel the way Obito did. Even if she didn't know that was the reason, thanks to Obito's genjutsu.

Oh, how she wished she could've gotten over that ridiculous infatuation when she was younger. Maybe that's what Obito thought about her. That the love he thought he had for her was just infatuation, and he realized it when he went through whatever happened to him. No that can't be it. When he looked at her even when he had that mask on, she could see it behind all the guilt and sadness, was a look she's always seen in his eyes. It was a breaming glint, almost amplified with his sharingan, a glint she had in her eyes when she thought of him. He must feel the same, right?

But if he did, why did he push her away. She even confessed to him, and he held a similar impassive look as Kakashi. When she decided to kiss him, the closer she leaned the more her heart beat increased. It was like explosions were going off in her chest, but he sent her away. Why?

Damn it all, she was going to find him. She doesn't care if he said not to look for him. She will find him and get some answers and break through that new stoic attitude and find out how he really feels. She was no longer going to take these three- or four-word half-truths he offered, even if she had to beat him all through Hi no Kuni. She had to know.

Rin reached Minato-sensei's house and rang the newly installed doorbell. After a few moments her blonde sensei opened the door.

"I'm happy your back safe and sound Rin. Even if I knew you would be. Where's Obito?" He asked.

The frown Rin held the entirety of the way here deepened, "he wouldn't come back." After she spoke the question finally hit her fully, "wait you know it was Obito?"

Sensei nodded, "come on in Rin, it seems we all have more to discuss."

Rin did as she was told, Kakashi was sitting on one of the love seats that was set across the large couch where Kushina sat.

Kakashi surprisingly nodded to Rin, "is Obito with you?"

"Uh no, he stayed behind." She answered.

Minato-sensei set a comforting hand on her shoulder, "go ahead and sit-down Rin, we will tell you what we know then you can tell us what happened on your end, okay?"

Rin nodded and sat on the love seat next to Kakashi. Minato-sensei sat next to his wife. She realized they were all seated in the same positions they were in when they first suspected Obito of being the masked Uchiha.

Minato-sensei looked around the room, "I guess I'll start. When we were fighting Obito, I realized that he wasn't landing fatal strikes against us. We know he is fast enough to so, but none came. The biggest eye opener was when that black thing wrapped around the right side of his body, when that happened it was like he was trying to stop himself killing you, Rin. That's when I realized he was being controlled."

Rin's eyes widened in shock, "he's being controlled? Do you know by who?"

Sensei shook his head, "I'm not sure by who. When I figured out, he was being controlled I remembered he stole scrolls about curse seals from my private office. That led me to believe it was a curse seal that was controlling him. So, I used an Uzumaki clan seal that Kushina-chan taught me to remove all seals from his body. Of course, that removed my own marking seal as well."

Rin took in the information, "how did you know it was Obito? Did he tell you?"

"No, he didn't say anything. It was his sharingan that helped me figure it out. He took back his sharingan from Kakashi, so it had the same pattern as his other. The sharingan's pattern doesn't change once it is awakened. With two sharingan's with the same pattern, I deduce that it's either Obito or someone somehow recovered both of his sharingan. The latter was such a low possibility, therefore its Obito." Minato-sensei answered.

"That makes sense." Rin responded.

"Damn it Minato-kun your too smart." Kushina jested, softly nudging her husband.

Sensei smiled at his wife, before turning to Rin, "it's your turn Rin. What happened with Obito."

Rin began to tell them everything, from what happened before the genjutsu to the last moment before he returned Rin back to Konoha. Even her confession and the kiss they almost shared. During her explanation tears once again fell from her eyes. Kushina-nee came and hugged her as she continued telling them about the coldness Obito displayed. When she finished, she stared at her family with teary eyes.

"That idiot." Kakashi stated with a shake of his head.

"I have to agree with Kakashi-kun on this one, he is an idiot," Kushina-nee said with fire in her eyes before she hugged Rin tightly, "how dare he hurt my poor little Rin-chan's heart, dattebane!"

Rin fought for breath, "Kushina-neechan…I…can't…breathe."

Kushina-nee eased her hug, "oh, sorry."

Rin smiled at the red head, "it's okay." Her smile fell back to a frown, "the biggest question I had is why? Why won't he come back home?"

"I couldn't tell you. But maybe he is afraid of how we will look at him now. He probably was forced to do things he didn't want to, like when he attacked during Naruto's birth. He is more than likely feeling guilty about the things he's done. And during those bad times the only bright spot was Asami who he took on as a student, but unfortunately, she lost her life. Maybe that broke him." Minato-sensei answered.

"I didn't even think of that." Kushina-nee whispered. "Poor Obito-kun."

"How do we help him?"

Kakashi leaned forward, "we can help him the only way Obito responds to, by being there despite the worse things he thinks of himself."

Kushina-nee smiled and nodded, "mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm."

"That's a good way to help. Of course, when we do manage to get him back home, he will have to answer the questions about what happened. I still have my duty as Hokage after all, but I'm going to refrain from putting him in the bingo book as an S-Class missing nin. I think that just us should be enough to find him and convince him to come back, we don't need anyone else to accidentally get in the way." Minato-sensei added.

Rin smiled. She was right, their whole family wanted Obito back. She wished Obito could see how much they all still cared. No matter what has happened, they still loved him. "So, let's begin Operation: Bring Obito home." Rin said. Everyone responded with a smile, even Kakashi.

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Black Zetsu was furious at that meddling blonde hokage. His plans on freeing his mother have hit a major problem. Obito was now free of the curse seal he and Madara put on him. Even the part of him he put into him was destroyed along with the seal. Obito was ment to revive the Juubi, revive Madara, and Madara would cast the Infinite Tsukiyomi, giving him the chance to free his mother.

Without Obito in the equation, he now needed to gain the trust of the bearer of Madara's rinnegan. Which was why he found himself in Ame, about to enter Nagato's chambers. Getting Nagato to turn on Obito and have him on his side, he can still revive Madara. And Madara will be able to complete the plan.

Black Zetsu rose from the floor in front of Pein, "Pein-sama, I have some information that will prove useful to you."

The Tendo Pein glanced at Zetsu, "where is Madara?"

"Dead. It's part of the information I have found myself with." Black Zetsu responded.

"Go ahead and tell me," Tendo Pein signaled for him to continue. If he was shock of learning that Madara was dead, he didn't show it.

"The man you have come to know as Madara isn't who he says he is. His real name is Uchiha Obito. He suffered an unfortunate accident four years ago, during which time he met the real Madara. Madara helped him heal, but Obito killed him to assume his name. All for the sake of power. He doesn't want peace he wishes to control everything through fear, including Amegakure. He only wants the bijuu to increase his power to spread more fear, hatred, and loss to the nations." Black Zetsu lied.

"How do you know this?" Tendo Pein asked.

"I overheard his plan, when he was talking to the Yondaime Hokage." Black Zetsu answered.

Tendo Pein nodded, "and why are you telling me this?"

"I was only following him because I thought he was Madara and believed in his fake dream of peace. After I found out, I realized the only way we can achieve peace is by ridding ourselves of people like Obito." Black Zetsu replied.

"I'll talk it over with Konan and we will decide what to do with this Uchiha Obito." Tendo Pein said trying to dismiss him, but he knew it wasn't enough to convince Nagato.

"I have one more thing to say, Pein-sama." Black Zetsu said.

Tendo Pein returned his attention to him, "what is it?"

"Obito was the one to kill Asami, and indirectly Yahiko. He told Danzo and Hanzo that the Akatsuki were their enemies. He told the Yondaime Hokage that he did so because Yahiko was leading you down a path that wasn't under his manipulation." Black Zetsu informed keeping a smirk off his face. That should be the final nail in the coffin. Hopefully now he'll have Nagato under his control instead of being under Obito's.

"I see. All Konoha shinobi can do is spread more destruction and hate, they will know Yahiko's pain. If that is all Zetsu then leave I have many things to plan." Tendo Pein had his fist clenched, the only sign he was upset.

Black Zetsu nodded, "as you wish Pein-sama." Black Zetsu descended into the floor. He wasn't sure if Nagato could kill Obito, but he was hoping that Obito's guilt would be a fatal mistake if he had to fight the bearer of Madara's rinnegan. If not, he'll convince Nagato that the only person who could kill Obito is the real Uchiha Madara.

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That's the end of the chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Obito looks to be heading into a precarious situation. And his friends back in Konoha are planning on trying to bring him back.

Black Zetsu continues to be a little sneaky bastard. I hated him in the manga/anime, and damn it I'm making myself hate him more in my writing. I hate all versions of the asshole lol.

This also ends the end of the second arc I'm calling The Curse Seal.

Anyways, thanks for all the support, please leave a review or PM letting me know what you think. I'm always excited to hear from you guys. Have a great day!