6 a.m., 26 September 54; Uchiha Complex

Smoke filled Shisui's lungs as he fought the scene before him. Dirt was caked on his bare toes amidst the wreckage. Dead shinobi of every nation lay around him. Their faces contorted in horror, their hands frozen on the ground. A tall man stood in the ashes with a gumbai in his hand. His dark brown hair was short, brushing the top of his long blue coat. The orange mask on his face cracked once, twice, before it fell to the ground in shards.

Shisui took an involuntary step back as he saw the face beneath. Circular pressure scars covered the right side of the man's face. Though he looked fifteen years older, it was unmistakable.

"Obito," Shisui whispered in a deep voice. He took another step back and glanced to his left at Kakashi.

'Where am I?' he thought. Not only was Obito older, but Shisui was also as tall as Kakashi. His hands were larger. He could feel unfamiliar muscles move on his shoulders.

"What's our plan, taichou?" he said to Kakashi.

'Wait, how did I say that? Why?'

"Obito—" Kakashi started. His mouth gaped in pure shock. "How? All this time? I thought you were dead."

"Obito is dead. I am nobody. And nobody is me," Obito replied in a deep voice devoid of the familiar cracks of puberty.

Blinking once more, Shisui looked to his right. A young man who resembled Itachi ran up to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Obito," he whispered.

"Come home, nii-san," Shisui felt himself plead. "Come home. Beg forgiveness from the Hokage. Please. This isn't you. You don't want to do this. You're good and kind. You're the reason I am who I am. Please come home. You saved me after my grandfather died. Just come home."

"Home? There is no home in this lie of a world. Home is an illusion. What you call home? That village," Obito spat, "is a murderous entity set to drain the shinobi way. That village that claims to stand for peace and unity only stands for injustice and war."

Shock gripped him as Obito swung the giant gunbai in his direction, knocking him off his feet and into a nearby cliff. Blood dripped from a cut on his hairline as his vision swam. Colors morphed into each other until shapes were unrecognizable.

He opened his eyes again to the small plant on his bedside table in his childhood bedroom.

'It's getting close to whatever event is supposed to take place, isn't it?' Shisui tried to ask the man from his dreams.

'Yes.'

'Is…will Obito be okay?'

'Sorry kid, I don't know. So much has changed. I hope so.'

'Is there anything I can do?'

'Hope for the best. It's what you can do. Hope for the best and pray. My woman was always a strong believer in prayer.'

Shisui snorted. 'Sounds like Kat. She always carries an offering in case we come across a shrine on our missions.'

'Hmm,' the man said thoughtfully.

'I'm scared.'

'You should be. Anybody would. It's what you do with the fear that determines who you are. Are you a coward?'

'No. I'm not.'

'Good. Then face your fear head-on. Courage isn't the absence of fear but the judgment that something is more important than the fear you face.'

'My grandfather used to say that.'

'I know. It's good advice. You'll remember it for the rest of your life. Every battle that you face, every time you feel scared. When you see your comrades fall, you'll remember this, pick up their kunai, and continue the fight. Be strong, kid. You have what it takes.'

8 a.m., 26 September 54; Shrine of Sukunabikona

The humid air of late summer blew lazily down the street, coating every building and blade of grass in a sticky haze. By noon the humidity would burn off underneath the hot sun, leaving small pockets of steam among the buildings. Katya's hand was slippery with sweat against Kushina's as they walked along the road that led to the hospital. Neither spoke, lost in their thoughts with pockets filled with incense and packets of Uzushio sea salt.

Today was the day the physicians promised to wean Obito off his medications. Today was also the day they would discover if the arm grown for him would hold or if his body would reject it. Today required an offering to Sukunabikona, the god of healing.

The shrine was small, with a line already stretching from the damp wooden stairs. A quarter of the size of the Uzumaki temple on the outskirts of Konoha, it was in good repair. There was a green clay-tiled roof with rain chains dotting the corners of its gables. As with all other shrines and temples in Konoha, it was made of oak instead of the usual Hashirama wood. It was a concession to the gods to not use something created from chakra and only from what they had bestowed upon humans. Dark brown paint covered the wooden pillars that supported it leading to an open engawa. The small altar in the center of the temple was minimalistic as the god required.

As it moved slowly, two people were in front of them in the line. Each person desperately prayed for healing for themselves or a loved one. Some left, having found peace in their prayers, others remained as desperate when they left as when they arrived. The board clipping their prayers to the wall was overflowing, rice paper fell to the floor and fluttered briefly along the floorboards. The next petitioner would simply pick up the lost prayers and pin them back to the wall. Hopefully, they had not gone unanswered in their brief journey away from the altar.

Katya leaned against Kushina's arm and sighed. Soft fingers tucked a stray hair behind her ear before pulling her closer. Kushina rested her hand on Katya's shoulder and bent over to kiss her head briefly before they moved up in the line. The girl was getting taller, she noticed. Often she wondered if she would take after Dan or Tsunade more. Most of her looks favored the Senju side, but her eyes were pure Dan Kato. Where Dan was tall, Tsunade was petite. Either way, she was growing again and Kushina wondered where the time had gone. It felt like only yesterday Katya was two years old bouncing on her shoulders through the market.

"Ka-chan?" Katya asked, interrupting her musings. "It's our turn."

"Ah, right. Remember to light the incense first then offer your salt."

She nodded and took the offerings out of her pocket. Lighting the incense, she placed it with the morning's collection. The precious sea salt, some of the last from Uzushio, was carefully placed in the offering bucket.

Clasping her hands together and bowing her head she prayed quietly. "Please heal Obito. Please let his arms work and his bones mend. Please heal their team's mental wounds."

Silently, she added, 'Please heal the bruises on Shisui's arms. Please help keep my family safe. I'm so scared of the future. Something bad is coming, and I don't know what. I don't want to lose anyone.'

"And I pray for the healing of all those wounded or ill in Konoha today," Katya concluded aloud, bowing at the waist once more and exiting the shrine with Kushina.

Rin was almost at the front of the line by the time they walked toward the front of the building. Her head was downcast, her hands clasped together as though she were praying before even stepping foot on the damp wooden stairs.

"Rin!" Kushina called as they walked over. Rin startled and waved at them. "We're going to breakfast, would you like to join us after your prayers?"

"Ah yes, thank you for offering," she said quietly with a tight smile. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. Her normally shiny hair was lackluster and unkempt. "It's my turn."

Kushina nodded and watched as the teenager walked into the shrine. "She loves him," she told Katya.

Katya simply shrugged. "Maybe. Obito's said he loved her for like ever. Could be she's just worried because he's her teammate."

"Nah, that's love."

Silverware clattered loudly at the hospital cafeteria's entrance. The entire room was packed this morning. With the ending of the war, shinobi finally had time to make up their routine medical exams. Specialists were becoming bombarded with referrals as years of health problems piled up.

Even before the war, the hospital cafeteria had been a hidden gem of a breakfast spot in Konoha. A single elderly chef had been responsible for the menu since Tobirama's reign. His miso soup in particular was so delicious that entire floors were said to freeze it over the weekend so their patients would be able to have it.

"You must be going through a growth spurt," Kushina joked lightly as Katya scarfed down a third bowl of rice. She looked over at Rin and frowned at the full tray of food. "Do you want something else? I thought strawberries were your favorite?"

Rin poked at the cut fruit with a chopstick.

"I—" she started before stopping. "I'm just worried. I did what I could, and I know the surgeons are even better, but it's just that possibility that he—that he won't—"

Kushina held up a hand to cut her off. "To speak of trouble is to invite it, dattebane. He'll pull through. He's strong and stubborn. And Orochimaru gave the arm a 98% chance of success."

"That's right!" Katya chimed in. "I helped him develop it, you know. We harvested Obito's stem cells from his spinal fluid, then we basically changed some of the DNA so that it would become an arm. We injected those changed blastocysts with my chakra and some of my grandfather's DNA so it would gain the mokuton healing ability. And I'm not supposed to say anything but…he may be able to use small amounts of the mokuton. Just like small amounts. He might be able to grow a dandelion or something…maybe. I think it'd be cool if he could listen to them like I can, but Oji-san thinks that's the least likely to happen. "

Rin reached across the table and gently squeezed Katya's hand. "Thank you," she said quietly before picking up her chopsticks.

Fifteen minutes passed in companionable silence as they ate before they began to walk to the west wing of the building. By the time they reached the open waiting room, they could hear the sound of pebbles dropping onto a table and a moan of outrage as vinyl playing cards were smacked down.

"I totally had you that round!" Shisui moaned.

"Oh, hush up and hand over the goods, Uchiha," Isamu goaded. Grey pebbles from the hospital's front landscaping slid across the table.

"You stacked the deck, didn't you?" he accused.

"Nah, you're just bad at cards." Isamu looked up and waved as the trio walked into the room. "Hey Katya, Rin, Uzumaki-san. If you want, Katya can shuffle the cards.

"Tch, fine. Good morning. Can you shuffle, please?" Shisui asked, hugging Katya from the side when she sat down next to him.

"I'm going to sit in Obito's room," Rin said before walking down the hall.

Shisui broke the silence. "You smell like incense."

"Went to the Sukunabikona shrine this morning with kaa-chan. We met up with Rin after. How'd your morning go?"

"Got up, trained, and had breakfast," Isamu shrugged. "The usual. Met up with Shisui to work on our kenjutsu. We've actually almost finished all the books. Sato-san, the village kenjutsu master, agreed to train us only if we could read through the village's texts. Every text."

"It was a lot of reading," Shisui groused. "1273 scrolls on kenjutsu between the library, the Hokage tower, and ANBU headquarters. Took most of this year between missions. You know what we had to do to get permission for the ANBU library?"

"What?"

"We had to get signed permission from sensei, the jounin commander, and the genin corps commander. Who by the way, thank you very much Katya, made us sharpen his kunai in return because we're your teammates. Your dad has the worst set of blades. I hate those things. It was bad enough as punishment when we were five."

"Anyway," Isamu interrupted. "He's not mentioning all the gophering Commander Nara made us do around the village for his signature. I think I prefer the kunai. We were running for days."

Katya giggled as she dealt the cards. "I'm scared to ask what sensei made you do."

"Surprisingly, nothing," Isamu said.

"Yeah, it was weird. So what'd you pray for?"

"Obito, obviously."

"Raise five. Did you say a prayer for me?" Shisui joked, laying one card on the table.

"Raise ten," Isamu said, shaking his head as Katya handed Shisui the new card.

"Call." Shisui grimaced slightly at his new card before masking his reaction.

"I always pray for you. And Isamu."

Shisui was quiet for a moment.

"Good! He needs all the help he can get," Isamu said, slamming his hand of cards on the table. "Flush."

"What? No way! You're hiding cards in your sleeve!"

"Let's see it."

"Damn it." Shisui laid the two, three, four, and six on the table followed by a jack. "I was hoping for a five too."

"What'd you have?" Katya asked, flipping over his discarded card. "A King? Shisui, that was a terrible decision!"

"See? Told you, he can't play cards," Isamu gloated as he raked the last of Shisui's pebbles to his side of the table. "New game? You wanna play this time, Kat?"

She looked behind her to see Kushina smile briefly at them before returning to her novel. "Sure, one second, though."

Katya crossed the room and hugged Kushina. "I love you."

"I love you too. Go play with your team. We have a few more hours still."

Two hours passed as the bustle of the hospital continued around them. Obito's chakra was calm and stronger than it had been in the last few weeks. Laying down the cards on the table, Katya focused on his signature. The familiar soft chicory was there, with a new undertone she couldn't quite place. She closed her eyes to soak the feel of its steady pulse.

"Kat," Isamu said, placing a hand on hers.

Startled, she looked down at the thin vines surrounding her arms and hands. "Oh, sorry. I was focusing on Obito."

"It's okay. Another hand?"

Before she could agree, Rin walked down the hall toward them. When she entered she smiled and wiped a hand under her eyes. "He's waking up, should be about five minutes or so now."

Grabbing Shisui and Isamu's hands, Katya pulled them out of their seats down the hall to Obito's room. When they entered, Minato was standing next to Obito's bed and placed an arm around Katya and Kushina.

"Come on, Obito-nii," Shisui whispered excitedly from the foot of the bed as Obito's eyes fluttered.

'I'm alive,' was the first thought that crossed Obito's mind as he tried to open his eyes. 'There's no way. I was dead. I know I was.' With one more burst of effort, he forced his eye open.

Obito squinted against the bright hospital lights. Familiar shapes surrounded him. He could feel the melancholy in the room, thick and heavy against his senses. Dark curly brown hair at the foot of his bed. On his right, his uncle, Fugaku's face came into focus. Obito took a deep breath. Rin. She was on his left. Her eyes were red, her cheeks wet. She looked so tired.

'How long was I out?' he wondered as he looked up at his sensei and Kushina standing behind Rin. Katya smiled at him from Minato's other side. Another tear rolled down Rin's cheek. All he wanted was to see her smile.

"Why's everyone so serious?" he croaked through his dry throat, hoping to lighten the mood. Flashes of the accident pass through his mind before he could focus back on the small crowd.

"We're just happy you're back," Kakashi said, squeezing Obito's shoulder. Rin choked back a sob and grabbed Obito's left hand. The feeling of the boulders on his right side subsided at the feel of her hand on his. Fluorescent overhead lights filtered through his tunnel vision. Plastic, floor wax, and rubbing alcohol replaced the smell of dust and dirt.

"Welcome back," Minato said. Obito's heart seized at his sensei's soft tenor voice. He thought he would never hear it again.

'And oranges?' Obito wondered briefly. 'Why does it smell like oranges? And cedar smoke?'

"Make a hole," Yakushi-sensei called from the doorway with Shizune trailing after him. "Alright, you're awake. That's good. Good start. Okay, let's see that right arm. Go ahead and take off those bandages for me, Kato-sensei."

Shizune nodded and began to unwrap the arm slowly.

"Obito," Yakushi-sensei started. "Do you remember the accident?"

Obito nodded in response. He swallowed hard, pushing down on the rising panic of the memory. "Yes"

"Okay, that's a good start. You've been in a medicated coma for two weeks while we repaired the damage. I won't bore you with the details but there were several surgeries on the right side of your body that we can go over at a later time. Are you with me so far?"

Obito nodded again with tears welling in his eye.

"We could not save your right arm. On the fourth day, it became infected and we removed it."

Obito's brow wrinkled and he looked pointedly at the present right arm. "But it's right here?"

"That is a synthetic arm developed by Orochimaru-sama and Katya Senju. They've spent two years developing this tech—"

Katya interrupted, "It's made with your stem cells and my DNA and I used the mokuton! It's so cool! Your right arm will heal as quick as I do! You might even be able to use the mokuton in time. I'm just happy you were the first person we could use it on!"

"Shh, Katya," Minato chided, placing a hand over her mouth. A few of the people present gaped at her insensitivity.

Obito's eye went wide and he looked back to the physician.

"You're looking at weeks of physical therapy young man. But you have survived something nobody else has. Wiggle your right fingers for me."

Obito complied, with all five fingers moving independently.

"Excellent, excellent. There is some risk that your body could end up rejecting it. You will need to come in for bi-weekly checks to make sure it is functioning."

"I—" The tears in Obito's eye finally spilled down his cheek. "Thank you." He trembled slightly before he relaxed back against the pillows.

"That's enough excitement for now," the physician said gently, pulling the blankets back around Obito.

"No one else has a team like I have, sir," Obito said somberly, wiping his cheek with the edge of the blanket. "That's the reason I'm here. My team. My family."

Yakushi-sensei nodded at him before walking out of the room, followed by Fugaku.

Just as he started to feel completely overwhelmed with his thoughts, Rin squeezed his hand slightly.

"Alright, Obito needs his rest, everyone can get out," she announced, shooing everyone with her hands.

Katya jumped up on the left side of the bed and kissed his cheek before waving. "Bye Obito-nii."

Shisui squeezed Obito's left shin before repeating the sentiment.

"Later nii-san," Isamu said as he followed the rest of Team Eight.

"I'm their brother?" he asked Rin quietly.

"A genin team is a family for life," Kakashi said, snapping his book shut. "I'm Katya's blood brother, and you're my teammate. That makes you my brother and hers."

Kakashi left quietly after that followed by Minato and Kushina.

"Rin?" Obito questioned when she pulled her chair back to his bedside and opened a medical textbook.

"Hmm?"

"Aren't you leaving too?"

Rin raised an eyebrow and closed the book again. "Do you want me to?"

"No, I just. I thought you might have other things to do," he rasped. She held up the cup of water for him. "Thanks."

"Nothing is more important than being here right now."

"Rin—"

Rin grabbed his left hand again and reopened her textbook. "Rest. Everything else, we can deal with later. You need to rest. Lunch will be up in about an hour. I told them to send up miso soup. Now, I know you don't like it. But it's good for you. It's easy to swallow and has protein and electrolytes."

"Rin—"

"Rest," she insisted. "You have a lot to process."

He slowly curled his fingers around hers before closing his eye.

When she was sure he was asleep, she quietly whispered, "I love you."

A subtle smile graced his lips before falling again.

Katya ran down the hospital corridor to the basement where the medical research team worked. When she had asked about Kato-sensei, she was told she would be down here. It was gloomy. One of the lights flickered at the end of the hall and made her shudder. Unlike her uncle's lab, it smelled like bitter herbs and disinfectant. Formaldehyde was nowhere in sight. She knocked on the door at the very end of the hall and peered through the grated glass window.

Startled, Shizune quickly looked up from the set of beakers in front of her. She hesitated a moment before walking over and unlocking the laboratory door.

"Gown up, goggles on, please," she said pointing to the hooks. Katya nodded and took a set off the wall. She walked over to Shizune's workspace and watched as she poured one blue liquid into a vial of what looked to be blood.

"I was wondering when you'd find me," the teenager said quietly, pulling a stirring stick from a drawer. "My uncle, your father, you want to know about him, right?" She swallowed harshly.

"No. I was wondering about you, actually. We're family, but we've never spoken. My tou-chan says that you're my first cousin."

"Oh, yes that's right. My mother was your father's sister."

"Is she—"

"No. She passed away when I was two. Dan-oji took me in until he passed too. I was seven."

"I'm sorry. What happened after?"

"Ah. It's a long story. Tsunade was supposed to take custody of me. But—"

Katya tapped her foot absentmindedly behind her. "Yeah. I get that." Blowing out a harsh breath she turned and placed her hands on the counter. "You're only a year older than Rin then."

Shizune laughed. "Yeah, I am. My foster parents were both physicians. They kept me until I graduated from the academy when I was nine. Then I showed a knack for this." She gestured grandly to the space around them.

"Looks like you did well. Who was your genin sensei?"

"I didn't have one. Missed the cut in taijutsu, I'm afraid. But my foster father petitioned the genin corps for me to join the hospital corps instead and, well. Here I am. What about you?"

"I graduated when I was six. My sensei is Tsume Inuzuka. I like research and development best, but because I have the mokuton—" She shrugged her shoulders while Shizune nodded.

"The council forced you into the field, didn't they?"

"That's the understatement of the year."

"I look for you sometimes, when I work upstairs," Shizune started quietly while keeping her eyes on her work. "I actually told one of the nurses that if you came in, they were to get me."

Katya quirked an eyebrow and drew circles on the counter with her finger. "Why?"

"You're still my cousin, family. I want you to have the best care possible." Shizune shrugged and fell silent.

AN: Thank you so much for reading! If you have the time, please leave a comment.

Beta'ed by: CherryBerry12

Special thanks to Mrs. Sakura Hatake for the poker scene, I don't play, she told me what would make Shisui look like a poker dunce.