Chapter Fourteen: Abandoning Humanity
Obito stood by while Yūgao caught her breath. The kunoichi had hardly looked winded while they were racing through the trees, but her face was flushed from pushing herself past the point for a break.
"Next time, let me know if you need me to stop," he said.
It was partially his fault, though. The scroll that Kakashi had handed to him had been burning a hole in his pocket, and Hayate's condition had left a pressing sense of urgency, even with Rin's reassurance, leading Obito to set a hard pace, even by shinobi reckoning.
"I'm fine," Yūgao insisted.
"You nearly fell off the branches. You probably wouldn't have broken anything, but that still would have needed us to stop and patch you up. Finish catching your breath and we can start up again."
Leaning against a tree, Obito closed his eye and listened.
"Fancy meeting you two on the road," a new voice said.
Obito and Yūgao nearly jumped, looking up
"Jiraiya-sama?!" they both exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Isn't that my line?" The Toad Sannin dropped to ground level and walked up to them with a cautious smile. "You know, you really ought to keep your guard up when out in the wild. Never know when something unexpected might pop on you."
"I was," Obito answered. "How did you sneak up on us?"
"Trade secret," he answered with a grin. "What brings you this way? Weren't you on mission?"
Yūgao stood up straight, and said, "Something came up and we're taking a message back to the Hokage."
"I see," the Toad Sannin murmured, thoughtfully scratching his chin, then snapped his fingers. "Then let me be your guide in side-stepping the usual bureaucracy and expediting your message!"
"Is that a good idea?"
"It'll speed things up and get the gears moving faster than if you had to cool your heels until he was available."
[NRE]
Arriving at the front gate, the two chūnin gate guards looking bored as they finished dealing with a wagon of pottery. Jiraiya was about to simply ignore them when one of them called out.
"Excuse me! You're supposed to check in when passing the gate."
"Do you know who I am?" Jiraiya asked.
"Disguises and illusions are all pretty easy to throw together, sir. May I see your entry paperwork?"
Jiraiya passed his scroll over, presenting a seal Obito was not familiar with. The two guards paled, one making a quick note in their log book.
"Just doing our jobs, Jiraiya-sama," said the other, waving them onward.
"Your cooperation is most appreciated!" Jiraiya beamed.
Following in the Toad Sannin's wake to the Hokage's office, Obito and Yūgao watched as he navigated the front desk and offices with a mixture of flirting, joking exchanges, and genuine camaraderie, so much that no one paid the two chūnin any mind until they were waiting nervously in the larger man's shadow in front of the Hokage himself.
"Jiraiya-kun, was that entirely necessary?" he asked, an eyebrow raised, though he seemed partially amused by the whole thing.
His old student gave a shrug. "Considering how fast they were pushing when I met up with them, it seemed urgent."
The old man let out a long-suffering sigh, then went back to his business face. "Let me see it."
Obito watched as the Hokage read through the scroll, subtle shifts and twitches in his face as the summation of their investigation was absorbed at lightning pace. Setting the scroll down, Sarutobi tapped his pipe.
"A nuke-nin, rōnin…this mission has certainly spiraled out further than the diplomats from Land of Seas had anticipated." There was a pause as he sat up. "That is a matter for later discussion. Yūgao, Obito, a team will be assembled to reinforce and support your present mission. In the meantime, rest and recover."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" both of them answered.
"In the meantime, Jiraiya, I believe you and I have another matter to discuss."
The two chūnin bowed and quickly vacated the office.
"What do you think that was about?"
"We're probably better off not knowing, if it involves Jiraiya-san," Yūgao replied. "Either it's something to do with his usual…proclivities and antics, or it is something significantly higher than our clearance would allow for."
"Right. Just curious and voicing my thoughts. Want to grab something before we part ways?"
Yūgao pursed her lips into a fine line, then shrugged. "I suppose."
Stepping out of the tower, Yūgao tilted her head to the side, stopping in her tracks.
"What is it?" asked Obito.
"Can't say. Go on without me." She disappeared from his side, off to parts unknown.
Left alone, Obito wandered over to the missions' office to find something to do in the meantime, when he spotted a familiar figure was in the archives.
"Orochimaru-sensei. You're back!"
The Snake Sannin looked up from the book he had in his hands, and answered, "I had some business to attend to in the village that absolutely required my attention. Have you had any difficulties on your mission?"
Obito bit the inside of his mouth. "A bit."
"As much as I might wish to have my team support you, I have a mission of my own, and my genin and sending them into the fray is inadvisable, at best."
"That makes sense, I guess. They're doing fine, I hope."
"No need to merely hope, Obito-kun. And they are performing their mission to satisfaction."
Smiling, Obito turned to a section of the library concerning cookbooks. "That's good to hear. Kind of missing them."
"Unfortunately, I can't say when this mission will conclude. Perhaps it will be sooner rather than later." Orochimaru looked up, a wry smirk tugging at the side of his mouth. "Ah, look at the time. I should be concluding my business here before returning to Land of Seas. Until next time, Obito-kun."
"Right. Take care of yourself, Orochimaru-sensei." What a strange conversation.
Dinner awaited. He was craving some Ichiraku ramen.
[NRE]
Crashing in his bed, he pondered what to do with his time until everything was assembled for the trip back to Land of Seas. His gear was still together, and he had refreshed anything he had expended before returning home. Lacking other options, his mind wandered on his experiences for the day.
Something was happening that had some senior shinobi of the village – Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and probably others – had returned despite apparently being on other assignments, and while he wasn't certain, he was willing to be that Yūgao was ANBU, and had been called to action, so it wasn't a ranking issue that was excluding him.
Flipping around on his bed, he began thinking of what to fill the remaining night hours when there was a knock on his front door.
This late?
Rolling out of bed, he smoothed out his clothes, having already switched to a fresh change, and he checked the door where the white-masked visage of an ANBU was waiting for him. In his living room.
"Obito Namikaze, you've been summoned. Top priority."
Obito nodded and vanished from normal space, he reemerged in front of the Hokage Tower, where he was swiftly ushered inside and escorted to one of the back rooms. Within, Hiruzen Sarutobi was geared up for a fight, sliding his bracers into place. Gone was the kindly grandfather figure he was used to, revealing the Professor that always lurked beneath.
"Obito-kun," he greeted, stern and grim. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."
"What's happened?"
"Recently, there has been a steady stream of people going missing from the village, with reports of similar disappearances from the surrounding countryside. Intelligence has finally managed to track down the culprit."
"That's good, right?"
If anything, the Sandiame's countenance grew darker. "It appears that an enemy is operating within the village, and I mean to smoke him out of his lair." Stepping forward, he placed a hand on Obito's shoulder. "I want you on hand in case the confrontation sours."
"In the village?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Obito bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. "When do we start, Hokage-sama?"
[NRE]
The village was asleep, blissfully unaware of the movements of ANBU as they advanced toward their objective, moving under the cover of the woods and the remaining darkness before sunrise.
They stopped and uncovered a hatch, well-concealed from the casual observer, and had likely been scouted out earlier. One of the ANBU got to picking the lock while another searched for any latent seals lying in wait. A thumbs-up, and the hatch opened.
"There's likely more traps further in," said the Sandiame. "Move cautiously and quietly. We don't know who all or what is inside, and the less we disturb the scene, the more we may be able to discern once we are through."
The two ANBU silently moved into position, taking point to clear the way, leading the rest of the party in the descent, leaving a few of their number to watch the exit.
The dark halls leading to the bowels of Konoha were foreboding, the blank walls whispering something nameless, and a repugnant scent wafting from deeper inside. His stomach turned as he descended into the pits of depravity. Dark corridors reminded him of his time in the cave, wooden cadavers and puppets in varying levels of repair.
Shoving those feelings aside, Obito moved up behind the Hokage, keeping the old man to his left.
One of these days I'm going to find a way to fix my blind spot.
Ahead of them, a pair of ANBU disabled hidden traps, methodically clearing the way forward, while another team stood guard behind them in case any other surprises turned up.
Whoever set this up was less concerned about keeping others out as more inclined stalling and hampering any would-be intruder, with some nasty surprises to catch the impatient. Uncomplicated as the traps were, there was a seemingly endless snarl of overlapping arrangements, and far too many easy ways to
And the further in they went, the stronger and stranger the smells became. Obito felt queasy from the scents, familiar, but fouler than memory could articulate.
Clearing yet another crossway, they came to a lit up section of the complex, a dingy, old, metal door with light seeping through the cracks. The Sandiame held his hand up, bringing them to a halt, then signaled them forward, nearly tearing the door from the hinges as they burst into the room, where the smell hit them at full force.
Obito was grateful that he didn't eat immediately before the raid. Lined in neat and orderly rows upon shelves from the floor to the ceiling were jars of human remains, labeled and numbered in the same fashion. And for every jar's contents they could readily identify, there were two more that held some oddity that ranged from curious to outright horrific. Organs and appendages that had mutated, or had some sort of growth shrouding them.
The smell was another thing entirely. Blood, chemicals, fresh and aging scents. Unlike the morgue that the gangsters had set up, there was no smells of oil or embalming materials to mingle in, nor was there any dissipation from the open air and the nearby seas, the underground chambers holding the fumes inside.
The ANBU formed a half-circle, weapons drawn, with the Hokage and Obito at the center, the exit to their backs. And at the middle of the room was-
"Orochimaru," the Hokage rasped warningly. "What have you done?"
The instruments in the Snake Sannin's hands settled down on the table. "It appears I've finally been found out," he crooned, slowly turning around. "And after all that time I spent setting up traps, I had hoped at least one of them would have taken a few of you out, but I suppose that's ANBU for you." Orochimaru laughed a little, then said, "I must say, that this is unfortunate…but not unexpected. Except for how long it took you. Signs of aging, perhaps?"
"I had hoped that my former student would have remembered a thing or two before abducting his own comrades to perform experiments."
He what?! Obito's eye widened, clenching his jaw and fists. "Orochimaru," he hissed through his teeth ground together. "Why would you do such a thing?"
The Snake Sannin eyed him. "Ah, Obito-kun, I see you've come along, too. Truth be told, I was not expecting to see you quite this soon, but this is still a pleasant surprise."
"I would ask the same thing, Orochimaru," said the Sandiame, placing a hand on Obito's shoulder. "What are you doing here?"
"Quite simply, I am developing jutsu."
The Hokage closed his eyes for a second, then reopened them again, staring down his wayward pupil. "I see. Dabbling in forbidden jutsu. To what ends, I wonder? What is it that you hope to gain from such depravity?"
"Everything. To acquire every jutsu, to understand all of the truths of this world." Now turned to face them, Orochimaru leaned against the operating table. "The one who first mixed blue and yellow named the resulting color 'green'. I merely aspire to do the same thing. If blue is chakra and yellow the seal, then green is a jutsu. In the same way there is virtually no limit to the colors that can be mixed on the palette, there must also be the same number jutsu."
"Such a path would require a lifetime to achieve even a sliver of that ambition. It's impossible, even for a prodigy such as yourself."
"You would know, sensei, and I must admit that it was your example that revealed this to me. I could spend my remaining days pursuing my studies with absolute zeal, and still fall short. Even if I were to be named as the next Hokage, if I die, it all ends here. I'm simply avoiding that seeming inevitability."
"So that is the jutsu you are working on here."
"That's correct, sensei." Orochimaru's smile widened. "In order to gather any and all jutsu to a single whole, as well as the underlying truths that govern them, is an immense investment of time. Time that mere Humans simply lack."
"What are you saying?" Obito wondered aloud.
"I intend to overcome the limitations of humanity and the weaknesses of mortality."
Orochimaru shoved off of the table and launched himself forward, cutting through the two ANBU watching the door, then bolting down the hallway. Hearing the sounds of fighting, Obito was already storming after him, passing by the ANBU the Snake Sannin had butchered on the way out, following the poorly concealed trail out of the underground complex, keeping Orochimaru in sight at all times.
Outside of the village, Obito caught up enough and crashed through the brush, extending out a wooden blade and slashing out. The rogue leaned out of the way and spun around for a kick to his head, instinct phasing him through the neck-breaking blow.
Another kick, he blocked with the blade, which snapped under the force, and dove in, tackling his former mentor. The snake rolled with the force, letting Obito fly off
The Sharingan could only do so much, but the downside to having eyes that could predict another's motion was that if their speed surpassed your reaction time, you were left watching yourself get the crap beaten out of you in slow motion. Even with Kamui, the gap between their respective skill levels too vast for the Sharingan to surmount. From what Obito had seen of his heavily-redacted file, he had little confidence to actually win this fight.
So he stalled like mad, dodging stone spikes that shot from the ground until the ground crumbled beneath him, dropping him into a waiting pitfall formed from the displaced earth.
Obito bounded back up, nearly to take a fireball to the face, then leapt to one of the nearby trees. In the moment of distraction, the Snake Sannin was on top of him, planting his palm against Obito's back, then followed up with a kick.
Obito slammed into the loam, bones breaking upon the impact. Regenerating from the blow, he refocused his eye and looked up to see Orochimaru begin signing for a jutsu.
Why didn't Kamui kick in? Obito wondered, ripping off the seal tag. At a glance, he could see something that disrupted some form of chakra, or at least the externalization of it, but that was as far as he got before Orochimaru started talking again.
"You've developed some bad habits, Obito-kun. Suiton: Desiccation." The air dried out, followed by the plants next to Orochimaru, turning the space of forest around him brown and grey. "Let this be a lesson to you. Suiton: Water Cutter!"
Highly-pressurized water cleaved into the young man's side, spinning him around. With Kamui not working, likely the result of the tag, Obito threw himself to the side, narrowly dodging the attack, then began signing for his own jutsu.
At least the regular Sharingan works, he thought, then roared out, "Doton: Mud Wall!"
Hoping to buy time to form another jutsu, earth reformed itself in front of him, concealing him before the water hit. The construct shattered immediately, forcing Obito to dive for a tree for cover.
"Pedestrian."
The water cutter shifted over, still fueled by desiccation, eating up more of the surrounding plant life as it gouged through the tree Obito was hiding behind, the spray showering him like a summer rain.
Pulling up his sleeve, Obito wheeled around the moment the water cutter subsided, firing wooden darts from his arm, missing when the Snake Sannin ducked down and placed his hand into the water pooling across the ground.
"Raiton: Shocking Grasp."
Lighting wreathed around the Snake Sannin's hand as he dipped it into the water. Electricity surged through the conductor, connecting with Obito. Gritting his teeth through the pain, the young man's muscles seized and spasmed, leaving him open when another tag was slapped on his chest.
Orochimaru pulled his arm back and leapt clear, an exploding tag detonating a moment after, and Obito dropped to the ground, his lungs shredded and his digestive tract turned to paste. As he laid on the ground, his lungs repaired enough to draw in another breath.
"My, you're sturdier than I thought, Obito-kun."
Head hazy from the repeated hits, whatever retort Obito had had to wait as his spine realigned itself and his lungs to cough out foreign material.
"Here. I'll save you the trouble."
A lance of pain flashed in Obito's side, followed by an intense burning. Freshly cleared lungs allowed him to scream out in agony.
"Hm. I see it will take more than that to put you out of your misery."
Obito glared up at the Sannin, managing to focus his vision enough to use Ameratsu, prompting Orochimaru to jump back, but something backfired, causing a sharp pain in his eye, leaving the intended target largely unharmed.
He began dragging himself to sitting against a tree, and planted his hand against the trunk as Orochimaru cautiously approached. His Sharingan appeared to be scrambled, so he prepared for a final move against his opponent.
"Defiant to-"
"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya roared as he landed in the clearing, already signing out a technique. "Kaiton: Endan."
"Doton: Mud Wall." A stone wall shot up between him and his target, intercepting the flame bullets. Shortly after, Orochimaru bounded over his construction and thrusting out his palm. "Fuuton: Great Breakthrough."
Wind tore through the flora, spitting it out in chunks as the Toad Sannin leapt and bounced around, the resulting wind throwing Obito back onto his face, barely able to see the exchange of blows between the former teammates. He could still feel the reverberations from the impacts of punches, kicks, and assorted jutsu, though, and each impact signaled another small measure of time that reinforcements could arrive.
"I know your techniques, Jiraiya," Orochimaru shouted. "And you've never reached a point you could rival me, much less surpass me."
While the fighting continued to rage above and around him, Obito reached out for the tree trunk, hoping to aid in stopping Orochimaru. When his hand reconnected with the bark, he slipped out of consciousness.
Immediately, he was bombarded by a flood of information, rushing at him in a rushing gale, too fast to catch more than minute tidbits, none of which lingered long enough for him to comprehend. And yet, it was…familiar. Close. Similar to the times he used Mokuton. A deeper study than when he first studying it in the Forest of Death. Not as sharp as the night of the Kyubi's attack, but resonating deeper into his bones.
A more immediate awareness returned, and he looked up at a pair of ANBU masks looming over him.
"Cat, you take care of him. I'll assist Jiraiya-sama."
"Yes, sir," Cat answered.
Blacking out again, the next thing Obito knew, he was waking up in the hospital.
[NRE]
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, wondering how one of his prized students had fallen so far, and more how he had missed so many of the signs. He had been prepared for a fight the moment Intelligence had handed him the report of pieced together information, but he had hoped some sense of kinship and honor had remained. That had been his mistake, and those under his command had paid for it.
ANBU was still combing through Orochimaru's lab, checking for experiments, each room containing another horror that had not been readily apparent when they had first arrived. Rooms containing the remains of the failed experiments. Nothing to indicate Orochimaru's rate of progress, but enough to support the audacious claims the Snake Sannin had made.
Obito had recovered quickly once ANBU had gotten him to the medics, but it was his body modifications that had ensured he had lived long enough to see said medical attention. Jiraiya had also been roughed up from his brief clash with his peer. And it had been Hiruzen's own fault that they was put in a position to be put in such a condition, even if Orochimaru was the hand that dealt the blows.
One of the medics knocked on the door. "Hokage-sama, he's awake."
"Thank you, Hiruzen replied, then dismissed him. In privacy, he breathed out a discrete sigh of relief, then made his way to the hospital.
The young man was sat up, resting against a number of pillows.
"I should reprimand you for running off on your own. You're fortunate that Jiraiya was there to lend his aid. But I should hope that the fruits of your foolishness have left the necessary impressions on you."
"What happened? Did we stop him?"
Hiruzen grimaced. "A tracker team was able to follow him to the border, but they were unable to prevent him from crossing into neutral territory. Orochimaru has been declared a traitor to Konohagakure, a renegade that is to be eliminated with extreme prejudice should he be found. A bounty will soon be placed on his head for crimes against the village and the Land of Fire at large."
"It's really bad, isn't it?"
"He not only experimented on fellow Konoha shinobi, but also civilians." He was not looking forward to the conversations he would be having with the daimyo. "There is no rationale that can be applied that would absolve him of his atrocities, and that's only concerning what we've uncovered so far. I imagine the pronouncement will only worsen as we continue to dismantle his lab."
The young man ran a hand over his face. "So, what happens now?"
"Your mission has been changed, Obito-kun. While some will remain on site to keep watch of the cartels you've run into, you and a portion of the reinforcements you're traveling with will be searching his last mission area."
The solitary eye widened. "Oh no." Obito swung himself out of bed, frantically searching the room for…something. Likely the result of restless energy. "We heard that some of the locals in Land of Seas had gone missing." He paused, pulling himself back together. "What about his team? Do they know what's happened? What happened to them?"
"That will be one of your objectives. Ascertain their status, alive or dead, loyal or traitor. Whatever happens next will depend on the results of your mission. Although, if you feel you are not up to this assignment…"
Hiruzen felt his heart, shriveled as it could be at times, sink as he watched Obito digest the information. The solitary eye steeled as he faced the older man and kneeled.
"I'll go, Hokage-sama. I have to see this to the end."
Leaving the young man to prepare for his mission, Hiruzen returned to his office to compose letters to be sent to the Fire daimyo. More than ever, he missed Minato, and resented the Yondiame's death forcing him out of retirement. He was too old for this sort of thing, but until a proper successor – one of which was the young man simmering in the room behind him – could be established, he had little choice but to continue.
Until such a time arrived that Hiruzen could safely pass the reins to another, he would do his duty, as he always had done. No matter the cost.
[NRE]
Returning to Land of Seas was far more fraught with tension than Obito's first visit, and by a considerable margin. The guards were trying to keep themselves hidden, but that wasn't exactly panning out as anticipated. In response, the streets were noticeably emptier, locals were more guarded and hurried, keeping wary eyes on strangers.
On the plus side, they had a senior medic-nin, a squad of ANBU, a team of dedicated trackers, Inoichi Yamanaka to head up any interrogations and long-range coordination, and Jiraiya as the senior officer of the bunch. If not for the circumstances, Obito imagined the daimyo of both Land of Fire and Land of Seas would have raised a stink. As it was, the samurai the Land of Seas daimyo had sent to escort them seemed to be what was keeping the locals from turning to into a mob upon sight.
More good news, Hayate was up and moving, though would break into coughs at random. Yūgao was visibly relieved and barely held off tackle-hugging the man due to Rin's insistence. Their base of operations had been relocated, incidentally, into Noguchi's mansion, leaving more room for the Konoha shinobi to set up properly until the mission was done.
"This is a surprise," said Kakashi upon seeing the reinforcements assemble in the courtyard. "I was expecting maybe the trackers, but for you to show up, something big must have happened.
"You could say that."
Kakashi frowned. "Something that warrants a force projection of this scale. Well, let's head inside. I imagine we have a long discussion ahead of us."
"How did you wind up with this mansion?" asked Obito.
"The police decided to get us out of the hotel and warehouse. And since Noguchi was detained for dealing with foreign mercenaries with the intention of undermining the daimyo, we were moved in. At least until the mission is done."
"Sounds nice."
"Sort of. I think they're going to have to demolish it after what you did to it."
Obito laughed awkwardly.
Sitting down, Jiraiya caught Kakashi up on recent events in Konoha. Kakashi was stone-faced the entire discussion, though certain points saw his practiced composure falter at places.
"Any idea where he was headed?" he asked.
Jiraiya pulled out a map, pointing out the vector the tracking team had followed in their pursuit of the rogue Sannin. "It was north, maybe northwest."
"He either has contacts or a base of operations that direction. Allies. This isn't an overnight change. He's been planning this for months at the very least. Quite likely longer."
"That's the conclusion I was drawing, as well. But for now, we're focusing on where we know he has been, and maybe shed some more light on the subject while we dismantle his base in Konoha."
"Right. From the briefing, he was supposed to be located in the southern isles, working with the locals on behalf of the daimyo."
"But if he was working on anything illegal, he would have relocated or established a secondary presence nearby."
"Is there a chance he worked with Akasuna at any point?"
"It's…possible. It's either that, or Orochimaru had built up his own independent force and deployed them in his shadow while he conducted his official mission." Running a hand over his face, Jiriaya looked over the map. "And there's still a chance he might have some presence on the mainland."
"Kakashi, you and Inoichi will be leading the search over the islands. I'll continue the investigation here and send a messenger toad if anything turns up. Mikoto-san's team can stay here while Hayate recovers. Maybe some extra hands for security."
"That's still a sizeable amount of territory to search."
"I know. But so far, this is our main lead."
[NRE]
Unsurprisingly, they found little in the way of traces they were ever there, let alone hints on where they might have gone. Questioning the local residents painted a strange picture. Reportedly, they had been recalled, and had pulled out shortly thereafter, leaving a partially completed mission, then retreated further up the mountain, rather than catch the first boat back to the mainland, as some of the genin were not yet proficient in water-walking, let alone water-running for extended periods.
That meant they were searching the islands stone by stone, tree by tree, and combing each and every beach meticulously for a trace of their presence.
Which is where Obito and his teammates were now. Perched in the treetops, taking a quick rest before they resumed their search. From his own place in the trees, Yukio crossed his arms behind his head.
"So…any chance we might run into Orochimaru," he asked.
"Doubtful," said Hitomi. "If he has any sense, he will be as far out of the country as possible. Why? Were you planning on taking him on?"
A shrug. "The bounty is pretty good."
"If the Hokage, who happens to be his old teacher, Jiraiya, an old teammate, and Obito, who was still put in the infirmary despite his regenerative abilities – and no offense."
Obito waved it off. "None taken."
"The point is, if none of them were able to stop him, despite their advantages, what makes you think you have a prayer of handling him for any length?"
Yukio absently scratched his cheek. "When you put it that way, it sounds really stupid."
"I can see the appeal," Obito said. "Not just the money, but the prestige. Whoever manages to put the snake into the ground will have their name cemented in the history books. Of course, if it were that easy to take him down, there wouldn't be a multi-million-ryō bounty on his head."
Yuuta softly growled, prompting Hitomi to activate her Byakugan
"Perimeter breach," she hissed.
"Where?" Obito asked quietly.
Hitomi pointed to the northwest. She then signed the approximate distance and traveling speed. Roughly 100 meters, slow and unsteady. Weak chakra, odd signature.
Nodding, Obito signaled out his commands, Hitomi taking point as they surreptitiously repositioned for a potential ambush. Even if there were people who lived or otherwise ventured out into these parts, there was no telling what Orochimaru might have done or left behind. Caution was the byword, and Obito refused to be caught flatfooted like that again.
When the subject stumbled into view, Obito's eye widened and he held up a fist, pulsing his chakra. Hitomi landed next to him with a whisper.
"It's Anko. Can you see any traps on her?"
"Not that I can see. I'd still be cautious. She has some nasty-looking chakra flaring out of her shoulder."
"Alright, then." Obito signaled out his intent to Yukio and Yuuta, "I'll make contact. You keep overwatch in case things go south." With that, he dropped from the canopy and slowly approached the clearing Anko was pushing into.
"Anko!" he called out softly, but she continued as before.
Either she had not heard him, or was too dazed to hear anything. Her gait and posture were sloppy, and closer Obito got, he noticed that her clothes had some tears and were covered in grime and sweat.
"Anko?"
At last, she turned to him, and he saw the bags under sunken eyes, sharpened further by gaunt, pallid cheeks. He took a leap of faith and walked up to her, only for her to pull back and stumble. Eyes wide and delirious, she scooted back.
It felt wrong, seeing the normally self-confident kunoichi reduced to such a state. But on the off-chance she was in need of help, Obito eased himself closer to her.
"Anko, it's me, Obito."
The kunoichi curled up, shivering from a phantom chill, but she allowed Obito to approach. He cautiously picked her up, letting her rest her weight on him, far too light for his comfort, then turned to face the others.
"She's wounded," he stated, grimly determined.
"Obito-"
"I know, but until we know more, we give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she might have some information and that means keeping her alive and healthy."
Spiriting her back to the outpost they had established, Anko passed out from the exhaustion, dead to the world. They were greeted by Rin and Rei. Seeing their approach, the medic dropped down to receive a patient.
"Is that Anko?"
"Yes," Obito answered.
"Get her inside and I'll see to her."
Laying Anko on the table they had put together, a gentle green glow enveloped Rin's hands as she began inspecting the wounded kunoichi, then rattled off the symptoms as she detected them. "Malnourishment, dehydration, intense fatigue, fever, chakra exhaustion…what happened to her?"
"That's what we're hoping to find out." He paused, then said, "The chakra exhaustion might be why we didn't notice her until she got close."
Hitomi huffed her annoyance at the perceived slight against her abilities.
Rin's hand brushed against the mark, which pulsed against her touch, flaring off in orange, flame-like patterns dancing across the patient's skin. Anko went from dead asleep to wide awake, screaming at the top of her lungs, seizing Rin's arm with enough force that she felt her bones creak.
"She's tiny and looked half dead," Hitomi growled. "Where is all this strength coming from?!"
"I don't know!" the medic snapped. "Help me hold her down!"
With some effort, Obito and Hitomi were able to secure her until the chakra surge subsided, the patterns receding to a spot on her neck, leaving Anko sweating profusely and panting heavily, once again shivering in spite of the tropical warmth.
"That is foul," Rin gagged. "I don't know what it is or supposed to be, but that is in no way natural."
Just then, Inoichi stepped into the back "room" they had set up.
"Is she stable?" he asked.
The medic ran a hand through her hair. "For now, but I'm not sure what to do about that…seal, I suppose you could call it."
"Very well. This might be the best time to discern her loyalty."
As once, all eyes turned to Yamanaka head.
"But-?" Obito began to protest.
"I assure you, I take no pleasure in exploiting her current condition, but she's less likely to deliberately resist any probe into her mind in this state.
Rin planted a hand on her hip. "Just know that she might be mentally stressed. Don't be surprised if that distorts whatever picture you get. And if anything happens to her, I'll let Tsunade know.
Inoichi nodded respectfully. "Understood. I will treat her as delicately as fine porcelain. In fact, Rin, could you stay on hand in case any unforeseen developments occur."
"You were never going to be rid of me."
Hitomi led Obito out of the room to where Kakashi was up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.
"Obito, remember that she was one of his longest-serving subordinates. There's no telling what she might know."
"I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"If it makes you feel any better, this is as good a possibility as any to help clear her of any wrongdoing. In the meantime, we still have work to do. Can you lead me to where you found her?"
"Yes."
"Yukio, take Yuuta and get back to the mainland. Inoichi-san has already contacted Jiraiya-sama about the update, but if this involves any seal work, we're going to need his help. Obito, Hitomi, we're going to trace Anko's route, and maybe find where Orochimaru set up shop while he was here."
"What about the situation here?"
"Rei is on watch, and I'm leaving one of my ninken here as support. Inoichi-san will contact us if anything changes. Now, let's go. The longer we wait, the more that current trail goes cold, putting yet another lead out of reach unless Anko can help us."
[NRE]
The trail was still enough for them to follow, though there were several instances of doubling back and wandering in circles. Kakashi and his ninken were able to cut through the most circuitous lengths of the route. Half of the ANBU squad joined up along the way, spreading out their search pattern a bit more. Eventually, they found the other end of her path. Seeing the sight before him, Obito almost wished they hadn't.
In a few words, it was a ditch. A ditch filled with corpses, haphazardly thrown into it with little thought put into it, and less effort into concealing it. With as advanced as the decay had progressed, there should have been more flies buzzing around. More maggots and other pests. As it was, he could recognize most of the bodies, if only with some contextual clues to provide the requisite insights.
Obito watched, grimly, as the bodies were extracted from the ditch and laid out in whatever courtesy could be managed. Whatever was being researched back in Konoha, this was another step beyond the pale by the treacherous snake.
Sen's chest had burst open, as if something was trying to escape. The state of his internal organs didn't lend itself to a pleasant picture as to how and why that might have happened. Eyes still wide with terror and agony of his final moments.
Next to him was Yosetsu, barely identifiable as most of his face was just…gone, melted like candlewax, with no sign of eyes, nose, or mouth left behind. His blue and white headband had been the only thing to indicate he was among the collected remains.
Alongside them were seven others, the genin that had set out with Orochimaru when his team had departed the village along with some others that Obito could not recognize, each of them born the same mark as Anko. Unlike Anko, their bodies had rejected the foreign seal. Violently. Bodies twisted and broken when their chakra rebelled against the intrusion, even as their bodies were forcibly mutated, organs shut down or straight up dissolving from within. At least, that was as much as Hitomi was able to get out before she ran off to vomit.
One by one, the ANBU stored them into storage scrolls, Obito committing each corpse to memor, when a familiar buzz in his mind alerted him of an incoming message from Inoichi.
"Jiraiya just arrived. How are things going on your end?"
ANBU finished gathering up the storage scrolls, securing them for transport.
"We're done here."
"Good. Return back to base. Anko is awake."
[NRE]
Jiraiya was hunched over Anko, who cried out in pain as the Sannin accidentally brushed up against the seal on her neck.
"Sorry, kid," he said, then looked up to the return. "This seal is a nasty piece of work."
"Just get it off!" she bristled.
"From what I'm seeing here, it can't be undone or removed, not without killing you. I can put a counter-seal up, keep it in check until we can get more info on Orochimaru's work."
Seeing Obito and the others come into the makeshift base, Inoichi pulled them aside.
"What's the verdict?" Obito asked.
The mind-reader glanced over at Anko, then back to them. "She doesn't remember much, and what I could see was heavily distorted."
"Is it trauma or were her memories tampered with?"
"Hard to say. What can confirm right now is that she's the first of his successful experiments in this 'Cursed Seal of Heaven' the snake designed. And to answer your question, as near as I can tell, she was not complicit in Orochimaru's betrayal."
"That's a good thing, right?"
Inoichi crossed his arms and frowned. "I can't imagine that Orochimaru would have just abandoned a loyal follower he deemed useful. Even if he is twisted, he still follows a certain form of logic. That said, she's still going to be under observation until further notice. Even if she wasn't willingly involved, that does not mean that Orochimaru didn't plant any suggestions."
"That's stupid!" Obito said, heatedly. "If she didn't do anything wrong-"
"This is for her protection as much as a safeguard against further betrayal, Obito-san. Until such a time that Orochimaru is dead and his schemes dismantled, she will be a target in many eyes. Do you understand?"
Obito watched as Jiraiya went about his work, Anko nodding or shaking her head as the Sannin asked questions. "I understand," he answered. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
[NRE]
Obito and Hitomi walked down a now familiar street. News was already circulating about Orochimaru's crimes and his flight from the village, but the finer details had yet to be disseminated to the village as a whole, what wasn't already classified. That was what made this particular errand possible, despite the week spanning their redeployment and return.
"You didn't have to come," said Hitomi. "Why are you coming along?"
"Because Anko would do it in a heartbeat if she had the chance," Obito retorted. "Because anyone else who should be doing this is unavailable or indisposed. What about you? Why are you here?"
"Because I consider Momoe a friend." Arriving at the door, she gave it a couple of knocks and stepped back. "And she deserves to hear it from someone other than some random chūnin from the mission desk."
The door swung open, and Momoe greeted them with a smile that soon faded when she saw their expressions.
"No…" she mumbled, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, Momoe-san," was all Obito managed to get out before Momoe dropped to her knees, choking sob.
Hitomi sank next to her, letting the woman cry out onto her shoulder, leaving Obito to wander into the house to comfort baby Tenten.
There would be a reckoning for, Obito vowed. For the civilians who had suffered at the Snake Sannin's hands and the fellow shinobi betrayed and maimed, for the tears of loved ones and broken families left in his wake, Obito swore that the man would answer for his crimes. He didn't know when, where, or how, or even if it would necessarily be by his hand, just the certainty of a day Orochimaru would die.
A/N: Whoo, boy. That got kind of intense at places. I kind of wanted to merge the events of the first half of the chapter with the previous one, but I needed to pace out some of the combat. That, and the general theme between this chapter and the previous were drastically different.
Onto other matters, deciphering the original timeline is a bit tricky, specifically, the discovery of Orochimaru's experiments, Anko getting back to Konoha, the discovery of the Mokuton experiments and Tenzou. The best I could remember was that they all happened after the Kyūbi Incident, so I kind of strung the events together.
The next chapter or two will be of slower pace, focusing on recovery, training, and general downtime.
Changes:
Though the scene only happened in the anime, Obito clashes against Orochimaru instead of Kakashi.
Tsunade (and by extension, Tayuya and Shizune) is still in Konohagakure. For now.
Up Next:
Unraveling mysteries
Growing affections
Restoring legeacies
The Power of Youth!
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Some other sequence of events I forgot to include? Feel free to leave a PM or review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Until next time!
Winterman, out.
[Omake]
Orochimaru drew himself to full height. "I intend to overcome the limitation and weaknesses of mortality."
"What are you saying?" the Hokage demanded.
"I reject my humanity, Jojo!"
Obito was stunned to silence, and was not alone, as the sound of crickets chirped in the awkward silence left behind by Orochimaru's declaration.