I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

Obito sighed as he rotated his right arm that he has just transplanted on himself from one of the many Zetsu clones hidden underground. They were still moving around, however without the commands of Black Zetsu they have settled into observing the shinobi world. He has kept an eye on them, but he has deduced that if they were planning something nothing would come of it. They were far too weak to be a threat, and they couldn't get into his time space. They weren't a threat, but they were useful as limb replacements.

Obito turned his attention to his reflection in the mirror. Another sigh escaped, all his injuries were healing at the rapid pace he was now accustomed to, which meant he wouldn't have any scars from a battle that nearly ended his life. The last time he was close to death was permanently marked on the entirety of his right side.

He turned to the bag that laid on top of the bed inside the small room. He created this small hut with Mokuton a couple years after Asami's death. He needed a place that was just for himself. It was his own sanctuary, away from all the darkness that surrounded him. A sanctuary where he could swim in his emotions that he kept locked away when he left the threshold. He picked up the black long sleeved shirt that was next to the bag and put it on. Grabbing the bag gave the hut one last look around the small hut. It felt like he was saying goodbye to an old friend, or more of abandoning an old friend for the prospect of a new friendship. A friendship he has once had ties to.

He was returning to live in Konoha, Minato-Sensei informed him after the battle against Mirah and Orochimaru that he would begin the process of his resurrection amongst the citizens of the village. The story is going to be that during the Kanabi Bridge mission Minato learned of a secretive group of rogue shinobi. Under the direction of the Sandaime Hokage they decided to fake Obito's death so he could infiltrate the group and report their actions directly to the Hokage. Knowing that many would question why Obito over Kakashi the reason would be that since Obito awakened his sharingan that the group of rogue shinobi would value a user of the coveted dojutsu over the child of a loyal Konoha shinobi, no matter how much of a prodigy he is. The mission would have been S-Class which would help explain why no one including the other members of Team Minato would have known Obito was alive. Minato would say they had to keep this a secret even from the council because they still didn't know how much reach the group had, nor who was the leader. Unfortunately they still didn't know who to pin the role of leader on since it is know that the Akatsuki leader is an Uchiha who is running around saying his name is Madara.

Obito had the idea that he could use a clone to masquerade as the leader if it came to a point that the leader and Obito needed to be seen at the same time. That would help Obito keep the Akatsuki active. He revealed his idea to Minato who said he would think about it, he didn't want to give any chance of someone finding out Obito was a rogue shinobi.

Minato also said he wanted to talk to the Sandaime and Jiraiya to formulate a plan to start establishing peace. That once they have a plan set he would call for a summit with the other Kage. Obito offered the information of how the Kage have been operating against the others by using the Akatsuki, he thought it would be some help into getting them to follow along. Of course, Minato told him that would be more like twisting their arms which could cause resentment. Obito had more to say but bit his tongue, he did say he would follow his Sensei's lead. At least to the point where it is apparent that his plan wouldn't work.

Obito took a deep breath, he couldn't put this off any longer. He has spent the last few days healing and if he doesn't return, he is sure it wouldn't be long before Sensei sent out a search party. He pushed chakra into his right eye focusing on his Sensei's house. Obito appeared into the living room of the Namikaze house startling the six-year-old blond boy sitting on the floor.

"Sorry," Obito said with a chuckle.

"Don't you know how to knock Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I guess not, I must have forgotten that ability," Obito replied.

"You're rude, Sensei," Naruto pouted.

"He is isn't he Naruto, don't worry we are going to try and fix that up a bit. I'm sure Kushina-chan would love to help your Sensei learn some manners again," Minato said from the entrance to the hallway.

Obito turned to his sensei, "I have manners sensei."

Minato smiled, "well those manners have been seen as of late Obito, don't worry it's fine Kushina-chan is currently in the process of teaching Kasumi manners."

"I'm not a toddler Sensei," Obito responded.

Minato gave Obito a nod before walking over and sitting down on the couch, "tomorrow we will be having the meeting with the council. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon you will be a shinobi of Konoha once again. Are you ready?"

"I believe so Sensei. I still have many reservations especially now that Mirah is out there. We don't know when she will attack me again, and if she decides to here then she could cause much destruction and a high death toll," Obito said.

"It'll be okay Obito, my hopes are we can reason with her. Yet if it comes to a fight I have full confidence that the many talented shinobi here will be able to handle her, and I'll even have Jiraiya-Sensei more on the alert to have to return home for if she does attack Konoha." Minato-Sensei responded.

Obito gave his sensei a nod, "hopefully that will be enough."

"Is there something else you are worried about?" Minato-Sensei asked.

Obito took a deep breath, "there is. I'm worried about how well I'll acclimate to being here again. I've spent the last seven years with rogue shinobi and surrounded by darkness. I understand that I have you guys here but with everyone else they'll be expecting that happy child I once was, but instead they'll get who I am now. I'm already not comfortable with conversation with people I don't talk to regularly." Obito sighed, "I'm just worried I'll end up being an outcast here once again, except this time it will be for an entirely different reason than what it was when I was a child."

"I understand Obito, but you may not have been noticing but you are entirely different here with us then you ever were with the Akatsuki. Except for these past few years with Nagato and Konan. I've even seen some of those characteristics that you once had, well maybe a bit more forceful now," Minato finished with a chuckle. "Don't worry Obito once you start being yourself more, you'll find that everyone will accept you once again. Your former classmates will be the ones who will become your friends once again."

"Don't worry sensei, if you don't make friends, I'll still be your friend," Naruto said with his signature grin.

Obito returned his smile, "thank you, Naruto."

"No problem Sensei, I'm just happy I get to see you more which means we can train more," Naruto said excitedly.

"Oh, that reminds me, where are you with your training of Naruto?" Minato-Sensei asked.

"We are far along, he has a decent grasp with taijutsu but he still needs a lot of work with chakra control. That however is not entirely his fault he has tons of chakra that it's difficult to mold. And I haven't even begun genjutsu defense so we can consider that it's entirely nonexistent. But overall I would say he could take the test for genin right now and he would pass." Obito answered.

Minato gave a look at his son, "I still can't believe I didn't notice how much he has improved."

"Well I did ask him not to show any of his progress." Obito said.

"I guess you are right, anyways get some rest I expect tomorrow will be an exhausting day of questioning," Minato responded.

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Obito leaned next to the large double doors that led to the council chamber. Rin and Kakashi both stood in front of him. Minato-Sensei was already inside, Obito guessed he was preparing the council with some information on why Obito was alive and not dead as they have all thought.

"Are you excited Obito, you're about to become a Konoha shinobi again? And you'll get to live in the village, maybe even get your own apartment. Well maybe you can't afford one right now, but I think Sensei would let you live with him while you complete some missions to afford one." Rin said with a huge grin on her face.

"Calm down Rin, you might be making Obito uncomfortable. Also, I believe that the Uchiha clan will provide him with an apartment again," Kakashi said.

"I'm not making him uncomfortable with the two of you it's hard to tell what the hell you guys are thinking, so I have to be the source of outward excitement or any emotion!" Rin exclaimed, "being around you two is like having to emotionless puppets as friends. Both of you can act more excited, especially you Obito!"

Obito gave Rin an impassive look, "I am an excited," he said nonchalantly.

"And I am excited for him as well," Kakashi added in the same tone of voice.

Rin sighed in frustration, "you two are hopeless."

Obito was about to say something when the door opened slightly and an ANBU stuck their head out gestured for them to go inside. They followed them into the chamber walking down a gray path to the center of the room. Only Obito was allowed to the center. The clan leaders all sat at a table that laid in a circular pattern around the center. There were two sets of pews that laid on each side of the path Obito just walked on, they housed many other predominate citizens of Konoha both shinobi and civilians.

Minato-Sensei sat at the center of the circular table, Obito faced him. To his left was the Sandaime Hokage, and to his left was Fugaku. Standing behind Minato were the two elders Homura and Koharu. Obito noticed many of the looks of surprised at the sight of him, he didn't know if they weren't paying attention to Minato-Sensei or that they weren't prepared for his appearance. He guessed his scars was the main point of surprise.

"It's good to see you Obito-kun," Sandaime said with a smile.

"You as well Sandaime-Sama," Obito replied with an awkward smile.

"Now as has been said, Uchiha Obito is alive and has been on a S-Class mission for the past seven years investigating the secret organization I learned about during the Kanabi Bridge mission. Due to the fact that the Akatsuki has been more active and Orochimaru's betrayal of this organization I decided to recall Obito. We may not have been able to get all the information we would have wanted but we have enough to now know that the Akatsuki shouldn't be that much of a threat to us anymore." Minato-Sensei said, "I'll know open the floor to questions from members of this esteemed council that should be directed to either Obito or myself."

"I have a question Yandaime-Sama," Nara Shikaku said. Minato-Sensei gestured for Shikaku to proceed, "from what I remember Obito wasn't the most talented member of your team, some could say that both his teammates out classed him but mostly Hatake Kakashi, my question is why did you choose Obito for this S-Class mission over Kakashi who many would think would have been the better choice?"

"I decided on Obito because of how loyal Sakumo was. Despite his genious Kakashi is the son of one of Konoha's most loyal shinobi, there would be many who are in that organization who would be suspicious about Kakashi. As for Obito there'd be no suspicion, as well as the fact that just prior to him accepting the mission Obito has just awakened his sharingan giving the Akatsuki a chance to have someone with the sharingan's power in their organization. And from what we know from the last war any dojutsu is coveted," Minato-Sensei answered. Shikaku nodded accepting Sensei's answer.

"I don't have much of a question, Yondaime, I have more of a statement and that is I believe that there is more to this mission than what you have said. Or there are circumstances regarding this mission that you are withholding from this council in a similar way you withheld this mission from us during many of our conversations about the Akatsuki," Homura said.

"I have to agree with Homura-San I also believe there are things that aren't being said," Hiashi added before a few other from the clan leaders and those in the pews voiced some of their suspicions.

"I understand that it could seem that there is more to this mission, however I believe we are getting the full story here. I as well as many am a tad furious that we are only finding out now, but I believe that Obito has done a great service to Konoha and to the Uchiha clan no matter how much of it was kept even from me," Fugaku stated.

Obito gave Fugaku a confused look. He knew that he knew about his circumstances, but he believed he only knew because Sensei had to go to him for information to figure out who the masked man was. But to see the leader of the Uchiha clan come to his defense after years of ostracizing him makes it seem that Sensei and Fugaku have developed a friendship in his absence. Now Obito wondered just how much Fugaku knew about Obito.

"I thank you for your opinions Fugaku-san but that still doesn't relieve the suspicion I have of this so-called mission. I still don't see any reason why a mission such as this would be kept from us, I see no true way that keeping it such a secret could have benefit Konoha. And even if I could give you a few years of this mission being a secret that still doesn't help why you would not say anything during a time when the Akatsuki was being more active and even collecting bijuu. Not to mention that your wife and your former student are both jinchuriki putting them at the greatest risk along with much of our military strength. If your secrecy caused us to loose two of our valuable weapons we could have been attacked by one of our many enemies, which would once again lead our nation to a war," Homura explained.

"I too find the Yondaime's secrecy for this mission as misguided to say the least. Yondaime you put our wonderful village in jeopardy for reasons we do not know, because you refuse to be truthful. Maybe your student will be more forthcoming, Uchiha Obito is what the Yondaime says true?" Koharu asked.

"Yes, it is true," Obito answered.

"Hmm, it would seem that he is just as secretive as his sensei. It is sad, you have the skills to be a valuable asset to Konoha. I'm basing that off of the fact that no matter what it was you were doing, whether it be infiltrating a rogue organization or whatever else you were skilled enough to avoid our detection," Kohaur responded.

"Or the more plausible answer is that he is just as weak as he was when he was a child, a C-class chunnin if I remember correctly. Easy for him to avoid detection, I'm not entirely sure awakening a sharingan is enough to propel him to enough strength to join a group filled with S-class rogue shinobi. Which also adds more doubt to the validity of this mission," Homura said, "I'm starting to believe that maybe Danzo-san was correct in his line in thinking that the Sanadaime nor the Yondaime truly have Konoha's interest as their priority, only an interest in elevating their own personal interests."

"Homura you are going too far," Sandaime said.

"I apologize Sandaime but I don't think I've gone farther enough to voice your failings and the failings of your successor. I have begun to believe we were wrong in choosing Minato as our Hokage, we should have elected Danzo-san maybe he would be here now instead of missing and presumed dead."

Obito clenched his fists and jaw at the words coming from the elder's mouth.

"Just over six years ago Danzo-san came to us explaining about a secret organization planning to overthrow Hanzo and cause chaos and distrust amongst the nations. That is when we first heard of the Akatsuki, at that time Yondaime you've already known about them for a year. Not only that but Danzo-san planned and executed a strike to attempt to remove this future obstacle. And I may add that this strike was successful in dealing enough damage that may have set back their plans for years. Which would explain why they just started a few years ago to become more active."

How dare he, how dare he call Asami's death as a fucking successful strike! Obito yelled in his mind, his anger rising quicker and quicker, close to a point he didn't know if he could stop himself from doing something stupid. He could feel a few sets of eyes on him, he assumed they were from his former teammates.

"Danzo-san did not implant a spy and not tell us, he informed us of what he knew and took action. And if you question whether or not his action was successful may I remind you that afterwards those within that organization made it a point to bury two members with marked graves suggesting that they were valuable. Danzo-san has shown us time and time again he could get things done, he would have been more beneficial to Konoha than Namikaze Minato. He is who we should have chosen as our Yondaime Hokage. He only needed a week to deal a blow to this organization, when the Yondaime has had seven years and barely anything to show for it. We should be thankful that despite the fact that his action may have led to his disappearance he still killed two of our enemies keeping Konoha safe for a few years longer."

For Obito that was the final straw, he could no longer control the anger quelling within his heart. He could not take anymore of this man praising Danzo and glorifying the death of Asami. He wanted to tear the elder apart.

"I only say this to show the reason as to why I have lost my faith in the Yondaime, and this is only comparing the two instances of knowledge about the Akatsuki. And that there are many questions surrounding this mission we were told about today that have only raised my suspicion in the Yondaime and the circumstances as to why Uchiha Obito is still alive after being presumed dead. Now I do have a question for Obito, if you were acting as a spy inside the Akatsuki why don't you enlighten us as to who the members are including the scum who were killed by Danzo-san's actions?"

Obito furrowed his brows raising his sharingan eyes to the elder, he knew his scowl set deep into his face, "fuck this," he whispered before launching himself at the elder. No one in the chamber was able to react including Minato-sensei. Obito wrapped his fingers around the elder's throat and slammed him into the back wall, cracking the tough structure. "You praise Danzo as he was a saint, but I'll tell you that I've spent the last seven years surrounded by darkness seeing many atrocities rogue shinobi cause and it still didn't compare to the evil I witnessed from Danzo. He said everything he did was for the good of Konoha but he did nothing if it didn't add to his own power. He was a power-hungry vile creature, a true low life. For all his quest of power and perceived strength he did nothing but beg and cry for his life to spared. He is truly the only scum I've ever seen."

"Uchiha Obito how is it that you know about Danzo's last moments?" Hiashi asked moving closer to Obito.

"Because I was the one who killed him," Obito answered not moving his gaze from the struggling Homura.

Hiashi nodded, "I see," the Hyuga leader rushed forward at the Uchiha.

Obito quickly turned his head towards him activating his sharingan, just as quickly as Hiashi took off he froze in place fully under Obito's genjutsu.

"Enough Obito, put him down," Minato-sensei ordered.

"As you wish, sensei," Obito answered releasing Homura.

"Also release the genjutsu on Hiashi," Sensei added.

Obito nodded and released the genjutsu, he turned back to the gasping elder.

Homura looked at Obito with hatred in his eyes, "arrest him!"

"No one of the things we weren't able to get to was that Obito killed Danzo in self-defense. Obito caught Danzo conspiring with Orochimaru to kidnap more children for his experiments. Danzo saw Obito and attacked, as they had their fight Orochimaru snuck away." Minato answered. "And if you have forgotten I've already explained that Obito is the one who killed Orochimaru. Oh I guess you haven't arrived at that point, I'm sorry I should have said something when you came."

"Say what you want Yondaime but I'll see this as you abusing your power as Hokage to cover for your student," Homura replied.

"Do as you will, Obito will you please leave so we can discuss what we are to do. Please cool down, I'll inform you of our decision," Minato said.

Obito just nodded and walked in an angry pace out the council chamber slamming the door behind him hard enough to destroy the door straight off the hinges. Sensei was right he had to leave, he wanted nothing more than to kill everyone in that chamber.

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Minato listened to many of the clan leaders express themselves that they want to know what Minato was hiding. While others said that they need to just trust him, he has done enough to earn that trust. One of his biggest advocates was Fugaku. And there were others who found Obito's volatile behavior as disheartening towards him returning to Konoha's ranks.

"I believe that Obito needs to be tried for the murder of Danzo," Hiashi said.

"I agree," both Homura and Koharu said at once.

"Do you want him to be tried for murder because you believe he committed a crime Hiashi, or because he embarrassed you by putting the great Hyuga leader under a genjutsu?" Fugaku asked.

"How dare you presume that I am doing anything based of any supposed emotion! You need to be careful Fugaku to stop looking down on others. Obito only got the best because I underestimated him, I'd never do that with you Fugaku," Hiashi replied.

"Careful Hiashi, you are starting to show some of that volatile nature you were just condemning Obito for," Fugaku responded.

Hiashi stopped himself from saying more, which caused the Hyuga leader's brother to chuckle which Hiashi rewarded with a glare.

"As it stands Obito will return to our ranks, given that he has been operating as my agent the past seven years. He never left. I'll slowly reintroduce him to working as a normal shinobi by giving him C-rank missions," Minato said.

"That is find might I add that you extend an invitation to the Anbu, due to the nature of his last mission he may be a better fit within their ranks," Shikaku suggested.

"I'll ask him what he'll rather do," Minato replied, "now let us move past this and discuss some of the more important things Obito has found first and foremost is the leader. The apparent leader of the Akatsuki is someone claiming to be Madara, however Obito doesn't believe it is Madara, he only knows that he is strong. He also doesn't believe he is really an Uchiha, unfortunately we may never get the chance to know since when Orochimaru betrayed them he killed all the members who were inside their base, as far as Obito knows the leader was at that base. However, what is the most concerning is how Orochimaru was successful in his betrayal."

Minato paused for questions when known came he continued, "one of his experiments seems to be a success. Orochimaru was successfully able to clone Madara and the Shodaime into one being he named Mirah."

Many started to interrupt with questions, mostly consisting of if it is true, others were concern with the fact that there is someone running around with the powers of the Shodaime and Madara.

"Is she as strong as who she was cloned from?" Hiashi asked.

"Not at the moment, but she is strong enough to even myself would struggle against her. I believe with enough time and training she'll reach the point to where she can rival them or even surpass them. Especially considering she already can use the Shodaime's senjutsu and has the same abilities of Madara's sharingan," Minato answered.

"Then this is definite cause for concern, what do you plan to do Yondaime?" Shikaku asked.

"I'm going to send Anbu out to find her and once we do, I'll try to get her to see that Orochimaru was manipulating her and if that doesn't work then she will be terminated," Minato answered.

"I'm fine with that plan," Hiashi said as others agreed.

"Now to a plan I have for the future, a plan to begin a process of bringing peace to not only our nation but all the nations and for that I'll ask for your help in doing. I've also recalled Jiraiya-sensei to help with the plan. We are going to formulate trade agreements within peace treaties, starting with Suna, Kiri, and Ame," Minato stated.

"I see why you would start with Suna and Kiri but why Ame they have no value for us and their military strength is no where near ours?" Koharu asked.

"Because we owe them this, the five great nations have consistently used Ame as a battleground for our wars. Now that they are rebuilding we could help them and make amends for our own mistakes. If left alone it is also possible they could harbor more and more hatred to the point when they do have enough military strength to rival us then another war could start. We can never underestimate anyone," Minato answered.

"I don't believe you will be able to bring peace to all nations Yondaime, the Sandaime Tsuchikage would choose any way to see you dead than come to any peace agreement with you. As for Kumo they will always choose war, they are more of war mongers than a nation," Homura said, "I have always agreed with Danzo-san's way of bringing peace, by being the strongest nation to the point where no nation would ever declare war on us. I must say Yondaime I have not been impressed with your current office therefore I shall go the Daimyo and begin the process of a vote of no confidence, I am letting you know now that this will happen within a week. If there is nothing else, I'll take my leave Yondaime."

"Do as you wish Homura," Minato replied, "this meeting is now over."

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Obito angrily walked down the villages rocky path, ignoring the citizens as they went about their day. Even the ones who stopped and stared at him, he didn't care if they recognized him or it was because of his scars. He was still struggling with the urge to rip those council members into tiny pieces. He has only just began his life in Konoha once again and already he felt he wouldn't be able to acclimate. Especially not with that old bastard still breathing the air in Konoha.

Obito raised his eyes from the ground just in time to catch a falling brown bag of vegetables.

"Oh, why thank you young man," a shaky voice said.

Obito looked to see a woman possibly in her mid 80's struggling to carry other bags of groceries. "It's not a problem, would you like some help carrying those bags to your home?" Obito asked.

The old woman smiled brightly, "yes please, I'd appreciate it a lot. Thank you so much."

Obito returned her smile while removing all the bags from her and started following her.

"Oh I was wondering why you looked so recognizable, when you were a boy you used to help me all the time. You have grown into a wonderful young man Obito," the old woman said.

Obito couldn't say anything he was surprised that she recognized him when he couldn't recognize her. Not only that she remembers his name.

"Where have you been it has been years since I last saw you?" she asked.

"Oh- I, uh, I was on a long-term mission," Obito answered.

"Well I'm glad you are back, this is my house I can take them up thank you once again Obito," the woman began removing the bags from Obito. Once she had all the bags she reached into her pocket and pulled at a small ball of candy and handed it to Obito, "I remember red was always your favorite. You really have grown a lot, into a truly handsome young man. Oof if I was just 50 years younger I'd be after you like a cat chasing a mouse."

"Um thank you," Obito answered awkwardly. The old woman gave him another smile before retreating into her house. Once the door closed Obito heard soft angelic laughter behind, turning around quickly he saw Rin fighting for breath between her laughs. "It's not that funny," Obito said.

"It was funny, but it became hilarious thanks to that look on your face. I just couldn't help it. Even after everything there is still some of that young boy inside you," Rin replied.

"Truthfully I was surprised by my own actions myself, I acted out of instinct more than anything else," Obito responded.

"It was nice seeing that after what happened in the council room. What exactly happened Obito?" Rin asked.

"I'm sorry, I just got so angry that he was praising Danzo as some kind of heroic saint for killing Asami. All I could see was his arm sticking out of her chest and that fucking smile on his face," Obito answered.

Rin nodded, "I thought that was the case."

"I don't know Rin maybe returning to Konoha wasn't a good idea. The angrier I got the more I wanted nothing more than to kill them all. I wanted each and every one of them to feel the pain and fear Asami felt before her death. Rin I wanted to use only my hands, not even a jutsu I wanted to feel every bone I broke," Obito said through gritted teeth.

"Don't worry Obit I wanted to hurt them too, but you didn't kill anyone in the past you may have. Today you only gave that man a scare," Rin replied.

Obito sighed, "that's not the point Rin, the point is I wanted to kill them. Before Madara I wouldn't have imagined such a blood bath."

Rin gave him a smile, "you've been through so much Obito. So much crap that you are still dealing with it all. Before everyone of your plans only lead you more and more into that despair that plagued you. I know you may not want to hear this but it's going to take time to go through those emotions and figure out a better way of dealing with them."

Obito stares at her trying to find words to tell her that he doesn't believe he can do that. That all he knows is to hide those emotions, or let them swallow him into more and more darkness.

Rin sighed loudly, "come with me."

"Where are we going?" Obito asked.

"Just come with me," Rin answered.

Rin led him through Konoha to the some of the forestry areas withing the village's wall. She stops at a riverbank and bends over to pick a few flowers growing in the area. She slowly walks over to Obito rearranging the flowers before handing them to him.

"What am I supposed to do with these?" Obito asked.

"I was thinking that maybe one of the reasons that Asami's death is still affecting you so much is because you never had the chance to properly say goodbye. From your memories I noticed after her death all you did was set your self on a path of continued darkness. And during that time you did visit her grave but all you would do is say you're sorry and never good bye," Rin responded.

"Of course, that's all I would say! It's my fault she is dead," Obito exclaimed.

Rin shakes her head, "you know that's not true Obito, based off your memories and her journal you know that Asami wasn't the kind of girl who did things because she was told. She did things because she wanted to."

Obito lets Rin's words roll through him, "You are right." Obito slowly makes his way to the edge of the river. At the edge of the river Obito took in a deep breath, "You were the only thing that kept me from falling into more and more despair after I thought Rin had died. When I felt that I could never truly live again you gave me a reason to live. Even when I found some of your antics to be annoying, I still found it enjoyable. I thought Madara gave me a purpose with Tsukiyomi plan but it was being your teacher, being your older brother that gave me a true purpose," Obito took another breath, "I always thought I was the one helping you, and I guess I was, but truthfully you were helping me. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, but I promise I'll start trying to forgive myself." Obito knelt down and placed the flowers into the water, "goodbye Asami, I'll treasure our memories together for the remainder of my life."

Obito spent a few more moments at the river watching the flowers float away out of eye sight. He then stood back up tears still in his eyes and walked to Rin who gave him a smile, "thank you Rin, I needed this."

"You're welcome Obito," Rin responded her smiling growing, "I'm so happy I could help."

Obito could feel a tightening in his chest that threatened to erupt. He knew the feeling. It was the same feeling he felt every time he was around her when he was younger. He was developing feelings for her again, and once again for the same reason. Because she is the only one who could help him with something so sentimental to him. However, he can't let these feelings out. He has already hurt her to much, she deserved someone better than him, and he will let her have that no matter what he feels. She deserved her happiness more than he did.

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I just want to say sorry for such a late update, life has gotten crazy with another child on the way, the busyness of the holidays, work, and the continue work on my mental health. I'm gonna try to be more regular with my updates, returning to this story reminded how much I love writing and truly missed it. I promise I will finish this story, I'm just sad to say it is taking longer than I wanted. Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter I can't wait to hear what you guys think. Thank you for the continued support.