Naruto x Digimon

Alive - Team Minato's Digidestined

Chapter 018

Originally Written: Thursday, January 26, 2023 129PM to 325PM

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Konoha Orphanage was a quaint building with far too many children than could fit. One of the latest was a young boy with ash-gray hair, hidden underneath a large, sturdy helmet. He looked around at his surroundings as though he were seeing things for the first time. He'd stand for many minutes, examining everything. Including Obito Uchiha's missing legs.

The caretaker, Nonou Yakushi, tried to dissuade him from doing so, but the boy continued anyway. Every time Obito arrived to help, there the boy was, running his fingers just above the scarred and burned flesh. Obito couldn't explain it, but as creepy as the action was, it didn't unnerve him. Maybe, because he could relate.

The boy came to the orphanage with no name, no belongings and no memory of who he was. He was floundering in a world where your identity meant everything. Many in the orphanage at least had a first name, and in the best scenario discovered records of their parents after a long search, giving them a last name. This child wasn't as fortunate.

There were many children here who had made friends with each other. But it was hard to talk to someone who didn't have a name. What did you call them? They didn't know how to speak to someone who didn't know who he was so deeply. They didn't antagonize him, but they didn't befriend him either. They left him to figure out the world on his own. So Obito let him study his legs while holding Sunmon. He couldn't blame them. The other orphans didn't know who they were either. Not really.

One day, the boy looked up at Obito, as though debating something. Obito raised an eyebrow. The boy kept staring. Obito shifted his goggles in nervousness.

"I've got a name now." The boy spoke in a soft voice.

Obito sputtered. He recovered and smiled. "Congratulations."

"It's not really mine." He shook his head, continuing to look at Obito behind large round glasses. "Urushi gave it to me."

"Oh?" Obito replied, unsure how to reply. Urushi was one of the few children who did more than speak a few words to the child. He gave him the helmet, so he wouldn't hurt his head again. Urushi didn't want the boy to forget them, because 'losing your memories twice would be way too sad'.

The boy tapped the helmet on his head. "This is called a Kabuto."

"Yup." Obito nodded.

"That's my name. Kabuto." He adjusted his glasses.

"That's a good name." Obito smiled. Those glasses looked familiar.

"I wonder who Kabuto is." Kabuto looked at him, and once more Obito felt as though he were being judged.

He was tempted to answer 'That's you', but he knew that wasn't the answer the kid was looking for. "Kabuto is the same thing he's always been. You're whoever or whatever you want to be."

The next thing he knew, Kabuto had climbed up on his lap. "But I want to know who Kabuto used to be."

Obito looked down at him, unsure how to reply. He spent far too long looking in the mirror and at his wounds, wondering who Obito was, if he wasn't and couldn't be a ninja.

Nonou smiled as she entered the room.. Her steps were slow and calculated. She shuffled across the room. "Is Kabuto in your lap, Obito?"

Obito chuckled, "Yea."

"I was waiting to see when he would do that." Nonou placed a gentle hand on Kabuto's head. Her green eyes squinted ever so slightly. She stood up straight and shuffled past. "Please don't drop him."

Obito smiled a strained smile at her. He noted that apparently Nonou and Kabuto required the same or a similar prescription for glasses. At least he now knew why Kabuto had been staring at everything so closely.

Kabuto set Sunmon down on Obito's lap next to him. "Am I hurting you Uchiha-san?"

Obito gasped dramatically, "Mr. Uchiha?! How scandalous! I thought we were friends, Kabuto."

Kabuto strained to tilt his head back enough to see Obito. "We are!" He flushed at the volume of his voice. He covered his mouth with both his hands.

"You're good." Obito ruffled his hair, "Just call me Obito, ne?"

"Okay Obito-san." Kabuto nodded quickly. Obito laughed and wheeled himself and his passenger to the kitchen. He stayed long enough to help Nonou and her helpers make dinner. Mainly by distracting the children's curious hands from picking at the food.

He returned a few days later with Grandma Masumi, who snuck Nonou out for a women's adventure. Nonou protested, but Obito got her to agree. He listened to Nonou's helpers, as he helped watch over the kids, dropping them off at school, and bringing them back. He helped them with their homework, which was much easier than the work he received when he went to the academy. He didn't have anything better to do, as Team Seven was off on another mission. Nonou and Grandma Masumi returned in short order.

The next week, Kabuto sat on Obito's lap as had become custom between them. Kabuto, his friend, Urushi, and the younger children gushed over Nonou Yakushi's new glasses.