Chapter Three
Night passed and Obito never left the dining room, never bothering with the lights. Sitting in a chair next to the table, he scarcely moving a muscle the entirety of his vigil, keeping it long after morning had broken. It wasn't until there was a knocking on his door that he moved. The knocking was soon upgraded to pounding.
"Coming," he hollered.
Rising from his seat, he loosened his joints and muscles and strode to the front of the house. He slid the door open, where a pair of Uchiha were standing in full gear and regalia.
"Good morning," Obito said.
"It's practically noon," one gruffly replied.
The second one cleared his throat, shooting his partner a glare. "Obito, the Clan Head is here to see you."
The two stepped to the sides, and Utagawa Uchiha slipped through the door, surveying the room, all but ignoring the resident. Obito eked out a quick bow. The man had been the clan leader for as long as he could remember, the enduring pillar of the Uchiha of Konoha. Being so far down the normal pecking order of the family, him visiting out of the blue-
"What can I do for you, Utagawa-sama?" Obito asked, glancing around the kitchen. "I'd offer tea, but…I don't know where anything is right now."
Utagawa continued to look around. "That will not be required. This is a courtesy visit; nothing more, nothing less." He took a deep breath and finally looked at Obito directly. "I will be blunt with you, Obito: your survival, among other things, is cause for some concern among the Clan."
"What's the problem, Utagawa-sama?"
"That will be addressed at a later date. Once this conflict is over, you can expect a summons from the elders. I expect you to respond promptly when the time comes. Perhaps you can provide the answers to alleviate our concerns. Good day."
Without another word, Utagawa turned around and walked back out of the house, leaving Obito to stare at the door.
[NRE]
After Utagawa had left, Obito stepped outside, his feet carrying him around the village. He stopped by his family's grave markers, then wandered over to the memorial stone, noting his name still etched into its side.
He didn't bother to keep track of time, whether it was spent standing or wandering around the village. No one seemed inclined to talk to him, people giving him a wide berth as he walked down the streets, head bowed and hands in his pockets.
Without really thinking about it, Obito found himself wandering towards his Sensei's house. Before he could knock, Minato opened the door. It was kind of strange seeing him in casual clothes, but he was still polite and professional in spite of it.
"Obito? Are you okay?"
Obito's answer was a short and terse "no".
His Sensei made a face, then stepped aside. "Come inside."
Kicking off his sandals, he was sat down in the dining room while his Sensei prepared some tea.
"So, what happened?" Minato asked.
Obito sighed, heavily. "Apparently I'm in trouble with the clan," he replied. "Don't know why, and they won't give me any details until they can get enough of the Clan together for a proper judgement."
Minato hummed. "After we got back, Kakashi got called onto the carpet for suddenly having a Sharingan. Nothing came of it in the end, but that may have something to do with why this came up so soon."
"They were mad because I gave him my eye?"
"That was their main grievance."
"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking straight at the time, and it seem like I would be needing it anymore, but I like to think I'd have made the same choice in the end." Obito bit the inside of his cheek. "In the meantime, I have no idea what's happening with my old house. None of my family's around anymore, and I'm not sure I want to go back there."
"Then I might as well make sure the guest room is ready."
"Sorry to dump this on you."
Minato patted Obito's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. As one of my genin, you're my responsibility anyway, even more so given the circumstances. If it helps, just think of it as a temporary place until you can find your footing elsewhere. Jiraiya did the same for me when my mom died." He paused and looked at Obito. "Still, you going to be okay?"
"I don't know. I need some sleep first."
"Well, I'll roll out some bedding for the guest room."
[NRE]
Quiet and dark were concepts that Obito had become quite familiar with during his time in Madara's care, and with that familiarity came contempt. He had nodded off for an hour, only to wake up and find the clock reading somewhere after midnight. After fruitless attempts to find sleep, he eventually zoned out from boredom, only snapping back out shortly before dawn.
Rolling out of the guest bed, he stretched a little than meandered over to the bathroom, wincing a little when the light came on until his eye adjusted.
He hadn't really gotten to look in the mirror when he showered at T&I, so the image he had of himself was based off of the comments he got from others. Looking in the mirror was something of a shock.
He knew that his right side was a mess, but the patched-together ruin was alarming. His eyes had bags under them, and his cheeks were a little sharper than her remembered. His hair was a wild nest of tangles that he did not relish the thought of brushing it all out. He thought about getting it cut, then immediately discarded the idea.
Master Jiraiya has long hair, maybe he has some tips on maintaining it.
Taking a quick shower, he made an effort to sort his hair out, then got dressed for the day and went back into his room to explore, nearly getting buried in nets and fishing poles for his troubles. Once he untangled himself and shoved the avalanche back into the closet, he wandered into the common area of the house, looking for something to occupy his attention quietly.
There were more than a few pictures on display, some of Minato as a genin, with plenty others as a jonin. Following along the display, he stopped at a picture of people he didn't recognize. An aging man with brown hair and sharp, blue eyes standing beside a young woman was blond with hazel eyes.
While he was going through the display, he heard a stirring back in the master bedroom.
"You're up early," Minato said as he entered the living room.
"Can't sleep," Obito replied. "Didn't really think much about it in the cave, but I could sort of rest, but not actually sleep." Looking back at the frame, he held it up. "I don't think I've ever seen this before."
"I usually kept it in storage. I was getting a little sentimental after Kanabi Bridge."
Obito blinked. "Oh."
"Why don't you take a seat? I'll cobble something together for breakfast.
Looking at his Sensei's back as he cracked some eggs over the skillet.
"So," the blond said, keeping an eye on the sizzling food. "What's on your mind?"
"I was wondering what it was like for you growing up. You said Jiraiya raised you, but I was wondering where the rest of your family was. You never really talked about them."
Minato looked up from the food. "There isn't much to say, really." The older man frowned for a moment, then flipped the eggs over. "In short, my mom's side came from civilian fishermen."
"So that's why all that gear was in the closet," Obito grumbled.
"Right. I learned enough to continue the trade if I wanted, but…that wasn't the life I wanted. As for my father, he was a first generation shinobi. Never really got to know either of them before they were gone, and all I know is second-hand stories from family and acquaintances."
"So that's your dad, here?" Obito asked. "He looks kind of old in the picture."
Minato snorted. "He was. Older than the Sandiame, actually. My mom was in her early twenties when they married, and I think the old man was nearly forty."
"What happened?"
"Don't know. Not much in the records about him other than some basic info. It doesn't take much to guess what a forty-year-old chuunin could be getting up to that would leave such a scarce paper trail."
"ANBU?"
Minato shrugged. "Probably. All I know is that he went on a mission shortly after I was born and never came back. Mom died of an illness a few years later, leaving me to be raised by an aunt until I graduated."
A knock on the door interrupted them.
"I'll get it," Obito said, moseying to the entryway. Shoving his sandals into a more sensible place, he slid the door open. A familiar, albeit tired face greeted him.
"Rin? What are you doing here?"
"You're a bit of a surprise, too" she replied, leaning to look around him. "I'm here to see Kushina-sensei. She said to meet her here for some special training."
"Training begins now!"
Obito could only watch in a mixture of stunned silence and existential horror as the Fiery Habanero of Konoha body-slammed his teammate, knocking her off the porch and into the yard under a trail of red hair. Rin sucked in sweet oxygen after having it forced out of her lungs, laying in a daze from the collision.
Minato appeared right behind him and poked his head out to see what was the matter, finding his girlfriend pinning his student's face down on his front lawn.
"You weren't ready~," Kushina declared with a grin. "Gotta be ready for anything, you know."
"How long were you hiding in the bushes, Kushina?" Minato asked with a groan.
Kushina jumped up, dusting off her clothes. "Long enough."
"Right." Minato shook his head. "Anyway, the dojo is ready whenever you are. Don't break anything, and I'll have a full breakfast when you're done. Try to keep things quiet. People are still trying to sleep."
"I love you, too!" she said, dragging a feebly protesting Rin behind the house.
Obito blinked, still stunned by the display. "What was that about?"
"Kushina's taking Rin under her wing until she gets her chakra under control again. More tea?"
A/N: So, Obito has trouble brewing with the Uchiha clan. Still working out the finer details at the moment, but the rough outline has been completed. In the meantime, he and Rin have some recuperation to do.
As far as I can tell, we never really learn anything about Minato's family history in canon. Probably wasn't necessary, but considering Minato seemed to have a very close relationship with Jiraiya, my guess is that he was an orphan of some sort (typical), and not of any substantial clan.
Right now, Obito is aware of Rin being a Jinchuriki, but not Kushina. Minato's going to be keeping that under wraps for now. Rin getting tackled by Kushina was added almost last minute since the guys were being too serious (that, and it was kind of hilarious).
Some things that will be happening in the near future:
Team Minato will be temporarily broken up while Rin and Obito recover.
Rin's getting trained by Kushina, gaining control of the new tenant in her gut.
More therapy for Obito, physical as well as psychological.
Shuffled team assignments.
Questions? Concerns? Comments? Even if it's to tell me my usage of honorifics sucks (it probably does), feel free to leave a review or PM. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.