The sky above had now completely morphed into a blanket of darkness. All that could be heard were crickets and occasional civilians walking down the cool, damp streets. Obito had been making his gradually to the place known as the 'Hokage Monument'. He could feel the fresh, pure and revitalizing air all around him, the mild gusts of airflow on his face. With each step, it felt as if he had more resolve than the last. It was as if the weight of the world had been released off his shoulders, an aura of serenity brimming through his soul.

Approximately 15 minutes later, he had now finally brung his journey to a halt, and was greeted by the 5 faces of the Hokage, staring blankly. Slowly crouching down, placing his hands on his head, touched knees to elbows he began to remember a time long ago. A time when everything was perfect, a time he had strived to experience once again whether it meant he had to sacrifice the world.

-FLASHBACK-

The radiant sun gleamed over the smooth surfaces of the Konoha streets and buildings, various birds chirping and flying overhead gave an ambience of safety. Enter young Obito, he had just woken up late again! Unbeknownst to him of course. Groggily wiping his eyes, he reached for his goggles, then decided he should roll out of b-
CRASH!

"Ouch!" Obito exclaimed, clutching his head with haste, then letting out a chuckle. Obito grasped the goggles on his drawer firmly, adjusted them to his face as he dashed his way into the kitchen, and saw his grandmother's breakfast she had prepared for him laying on the table. All of a sudden, a thought came to his mind. As his eyes slowly shifted out the window. 'I wonder where the other kids are... usually I see them walki-'

A lightbulb appeared over his head. His curiosity had instantly turned itself into visible panicked expression as he grabbed the sandwich, took a large bite and bolted out the door causing it to swing back and forth slightly as the sound of unorganised footsteps shuffled away. This was a race against time.

"Bye Grandma!" He yelled in a muffled tone, most definitely due to the sandwich he took way too large of a bite of. Equipped in dark blue clothes, and the esteemed Uchiha clan crest on the back of his shirt, he definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. The young boy ran as fast as he could, feeling the wind brush up against his raven-coloured hair causing it to flow back due to air resistance.

"I'm gonna be late!" Obito muttered to himself repeatedly, quickly finishing off the sandwich as his cheeks were stuffed like a wild animal. Today was the day of the graduation ceremony, and he would become a genin, a wish he had longed for since before he could remember. He fastened his pace even further, breathless and gasping for air as he eventually made his way outside the gates of the academy. Obito diverted his eyes slowly to the gate, with a long pause. Then he blinked. And again.

"AGHHH! I'm so late!" Obito yelled, jittery from nervousness. However, he quickly calmed himself and then began a childish sounding monologue.

"I was expecting this from the start.. After all, the best is for last! I am totally gonna make a dramatic entrance and then everyone is gonna think im so coo-" Obito's self delusion came to a stop as he felt a firm but gentle grip on his shoulder. Slowly turning around.. he saw.. his instructor? 'Uh oh.' he thought to himself. Quickly gaining his composure, he went to speak but was interrupted.

"Late again? Really? You're always the only one that does this.." The instructor audibly sighed and stared at the young Uchiha, unimpressed. He was a kind but strict man, and his kindness was slowly running out.

"Wait!" Obito spoke with unpredictability, before continuing. "I have a reason." Obito felt his heartbeat pumping out of his chest before speaking once again,

"I saw a black cat cross my path so I had to take the long way!" This statement simply caused a long, deafening silence between the two. Feeling the instructor staring daggers at him, he occasionally glanced back to meet his eyes then diverted his gaze continuously. A few words were spoken.

"The graduation ceremony has ended." The older man spoke with a now blank stare. "Guess you gotta wait another year, eh Obito?"

Obito's mouth gaped open, and with childish innocence he shouted out "What!?"

"I'm only joking, alright? You are very late but you can still go check your results." A tiny smirk appeared on the instructors face but he hid it quite well. Ruffling the young Uchiha's messy and unruly hair, he directed him into the academy grounds where he saw nobody. 'Dang! How late was I? Geez..' His thoughts were interrupted out of the blue, by a light pat on the back.

"New record! Woohoo!" A girl his age stated, with slightly above shoulder length hair and sparkly brown eyes. This startled Obito greatly, as he jumped up like a cat and span around, but after laying his eyes upon the girl he couldn't get the words out his mouth.

"A-I s- so hi Rin-chan" Obito stuttered as if he was speaking while shivering, when the room wasn't even cold.

"You've never been this late before, congrats!" A light chuckle from Rin echoed itself through Obito's ears, as she stared at the girl, with a wide-eyed goofy expression upon his face. He tried to get out words, but all that came out was for all we know- an alien language since nobody in the world would be able to decode what he is mumbling. Ignoring the boy's jumbled words, she spoke with innocent excitement,

"Here! I got you your documents!" She spoke gently, and slowly handed him the document. Obito's eyes scanned through the writing, until he saw that he... graduated! His initial fears were all relieved as now he had a huge sheepish grin on his face. His eyes were locked with the text as if he had been having a staring contest.

"Congratulations! We're now both geni-" The girl known as Rin was cut off by a celebrating young Uchiha, doing some weird dance which resembled a chicken moving it's head back and forth. This slightly got on her nerves, as a playful grin etched it's way onto her face.

"Can you not be so dramatic!-" Rin exclaimed with an embarassed expression upon her face.

"Ah- sorry!" A grin glistened on his face as he still couldn't get over his excitement. He was imagining the future, becoming a cool ninja, maybe even the Hokage! Doing epic moves and being respected by all. Obito gazed towards Rin and spoke,

"So.. Rin-chan, when do we get those cool ninja bandanas?"

"Don't you mean the ninja forehead protectors.. they're not meant to be cool bandanas.." Remarked the girl, and then speaking again. "And, anyways I'm not sure.. the instructor didn't really say." She was seeming to be thinking about something, since she was looking up at the ceiling. Rin then tells Obito to go outside and meet with Kakashi since he's probably waiting.

"Ugh... that guy? He sucks.." Obito mumbled under his breath, too quiet to be heard by anyone except himself. To be truthful, he was jealous. That stupid Hatake was such a prodigy, and Rin liked him! Jerk! Just thinking about the name Kakashi caused him to sulk. Anyway, they both stepped outside the gates and met with a white haired boy tree walking in front of them. This just caused Obito to get even more annoyed..

"Hi Kakashi!" Rin stated softly with a wave, and a large smile.

"Hello Rin." A monotonous reply was heard by the mask wearing boy. He just radiated indifference and ego. Obito silently stared at him, as Kakashi noticed and met his gaze with a stare twice as harsh. Then, a childish remark was heard.

"Hey! You're not even that cool dude, you suck!" Obito snarled then made a face mocking him. This caused a slight vein to pop up on Kakashi's face and then a reply back was heard, seemingly with more emotion then he had a few seconds ago.

"No, you suck. Don't make that face at me, idiot!" Not much of an expression could be made out due to the mask, but for some reason you could just tell that he was annoyed. Rin tried to stop them from arguing, but then Obito made another remark.

"Guess what, dumbass! I'm gonna be the next Hokage, loser!" Obito made sure to try and get on his nerves as much as possible. Little did the trio know, their blond spiky-haired sensei was currently frowning and watching them behind a tree. 'What kind of teamwork is that?' the man pondered to himself. After all the bickering, the prodigy known as Kakashi and the loudmouth Obito were secretly close friends but neither of them would ever admit it.

After sharing some friendly jokes, they all split up and headed back home. The colour in the sky was a little darker than before, but overall was still beaming with flagrant hues and the sun shined it's calming warmth over all of Konoha, as if it were protecting it. Obito slowly strut his way back home, still ecstatic over the news he had received an hour ago. Little would he have known, that he should of cherished these memories as a few years from now he would be crushed by a boulder and presumed dead.

-End Of Flashback-

Obito cleared up his mind, and hadn't realised a tear had traversed itself down his cheek, before quickly wiping it and returning to his stoic demeanor. The night air was colder than before, and he could swear that the air tasted like knives. He needed to head back to the hospital, after all he was supposed to have amnesia or something of that sort and it would look strange that he just escaped off to god-knows where. Before beginning his journey back however, he stared at the sky, contemplating something. 'I hope Madara is doing okay.'

Feeling a little shocked from what he just thought, he reminded himself that he did not like the man.. yeah. Obito activated his Kamui, and entered the dimension before hastily taking out the hospital clothing and putting it on. With unremarkable speed, he made his way back to the outside of the hospital he was previously residing in. A feeling of dread washed over him. Before he could make his way back through the window, a voice which emanated authority and power made itself known behind him.

"Obito?"