A/N: I would like to announce that Jiraiya and Obito have conspired to assume control of portions of the story, forcing me to reconfigure and rewrite a bunch of it. At this point, I could conceivably credit them as co-authors, and blame them for setting the story back so far. On the plus side, I managed to wrangle most of the idling and otherwise orphaned fan-fic ideas I had bouncing around, all thanks to their meddling.
Chapter Five
It had been a long time since Jiraiya had been in the village proper. Now that it was his turn on the rotation back to the village, he took a moment to breathe in the familiar scent of the woods the Shodiame had grown when the village had first gone up. More importantly, it smelled of home.
Walking through the gates, he mentally tallied what had changed along the way to Minato's house. He had hoped to surprise his former ward, but the rumor mill had it that he wasn't in the village at the moment.
Jiraiya cleared his throat and knocked on his student's door.
To his surprise, it wasn't Kushina, Minato's usual house-sitter who answered. No, he was met with the rather eerie visage of an Uchiha with long, shaggy hair, a series of scars spiraling around his good eye, the other hidden behind a patch.
"Jiraiya-sama," he said, rubbing his eyes. "What brings you here?"
Blinking at the Uchiha, he vaguely remembered seeing him before. After staring back for a bit, the boy filled in the gap.
"It's Obito," he said, pointing to himself.
Blinking, Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow. "Oh. I heard you had died."
Obito stared at him for a second longer, then said, "…I got better."
"Ah." Having no real reply to that, Jiraiya awkwardly glanced around. "Mind if I come in?" he asked.
"Don't mind at all," Obito replied, stepping aside and beckoning him to follow.
Looking around the house, Jiraiya noted the place was much cleaner than it usually was when left under Kushina's care. Not that she was a complete slob, but the level of detail cleaning was rather unsettling, especially when he recalled some of the tales Minato shared concerning Obito's habits. Helpful as the day was long, but not the most organized of people. Not that the blond had any real ground to stand on in that argument.
"I already have the kettle going. You like tea, right?"
"Sure."
Absently, Obito pulled out some leaves from the cabinet. "Minato-sensei is out right now, if you were wondering."
"So I heard. Where's Kushina?" Jiraiya asked.
"Last I checked, doing some training with Rin. They'll be at it for, oh…another half-hour, at least. Girl talk." He gave a shrug. "Were you needing Minato-sensei for something?"
Glancing at Obito's back, something pinged Jiraiya's senses. The foreign extension that practically made up his right side was particularly worrying, but that line of questioning was better directed to the old man.
"I was hoping I could trouble him to proofread some of my work," Jiraiya answered. Granted, it wasn't the real reason he had come to visit, but that was all the boy needed to know. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Kind of got the boot from the clan for the short-term. Minato-sensei offered to put me up here, so…here I am."
Jiraiya scratched his chin. "Hm…"
"You said you wanted Minato to proofread something for you? If it's alright with you, I could have a look. I got a couple more days before Tsunade-sama lets me do anything besides train. Kind of bored out of my mind right now."
Ah. That would explain why the floor is clean enough to eat off of. Jiraiya perked up a little as an idea came to him. "Maybe you can fill in for your sensei for this." Drawing out a stack of neatly ordered paper, he set it down on the table.
The boy gingerly handled the manuscript and squinted at the title. "Icha Icha- wait, what? This is one of your pervert books, isn't it?"
"If you've got a problem with that…" Jiraiya said, a touch annoyed.
"No, just…probably needed a bit of forewarning. Also wondering how you got my sensei to read through something like this. I've never seen anything besides some cookbooks, a couple of books on fishing, and fuuinjutsu scrolls that take up most of the space on the bookcases."
"He has a critical eye for language and syntax, coupled with the ability to focus on details without getting distracted."
"I guess your usual perverts got too distracted while reading," Obito said, pouring out some tea.
"Just so," Jiraiya said, taking the cup with a smile. "Well, don't hurry yourself too much. Quality work requires quality effort, after all."
[NRE]
"What's the kid's story?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up from his desk at his old student. "Jiraiya-kun. You're late."
He had known Jiraiya had been in the village the moment he stepped foot through the gate. His old student, however, decided some mischief was in order and decided to drop by Minato's place. Understandably surprised by the outcome, Jiraiya had made a beeline to Hiruzen for answers.
Despite the front he usually put up, Jiraiya was a master spy. And while he looked for the best in people, if there was a chance his friends could come to harm, he was as suspicious as any other shinobi, and Obito's circumstances would stink to high heaven if anyone pried even a little into the cover story.
"I trust you're referring to young Obito-kun?" he asked.
"Last I heard, he was KIA," Jiraiya replied. "What the hell happened?"
"He found his team out in the field when Kiri grabbed Rin-chan," Hiruzen replied. "He wound up aiding Kakashi-kun in retrieving her and was brought home for a debriefing with Inoichi." That would hopefully alleviate some of the Toad Sanin's concerns. "The official piece of fiction was that Obito Uchiha had been retrieved by an unaffiliated shinobi and held prisoner – and experimented on – for the better part of six months, then managed to escape once he had sufficiently recovered."
"And the unofficial story?"
Hiruzen pulled his pipe away from his mouth. "Uncomfortably close to the truth."
According to Obito's account, something verified by Inoichi Yamanaka, Madara Uchiha had survived his supposed demise at the hands of the Shodiame. Not without incident, but the co-founder of Konohagakure was more than the power projected on the battlefield. Simply staying alive meant he was capable of causing trouble, especially with servants capable of carrying out his orders. And if his skills remained intact…
Hiruzen snuffed the shudder before it could appear. "We're keeping an eye on him, nonetheless." Emptying his pipe, he met Jiraiya's stare. "Now, I understand you have something to tell me."
[NRE]
Rin screamed in frustration as yet another fish exploded in her face, showering her with the entrails. Again.
Behind her, Tsunade laughed, having avoided the mess entirely while shielding Shizune from the same. Her sempai looked vaguely sympathetic, but couldn't quite keep amusement from reaching her face.
"Better than the last attempt," the Slug Princess said.
"I was always good at control. It's frustrating having to go so far back to the beginning."
"It'll come back. Just give it some time. Shizune."
"Yes, Tsunade-shishou?"
"Take care of the fish. Rin, come with me."
Rin did her best to repress the shudder that traveled up her spine. "Yes, Sensei."
Following the Slug Sannin into the clearing, Rin held position and waited a couple of seconds for her teacher to cross to the other side, then moved forward, slowly at first and building up speed.
At the last moment, her teacher wheeled around, fist cocked back. Rin leaned aside as a fist flew past her head. Displaced air whipped their hair around, and the pressure generated from Tsunade's punch took out several trees down range. Not her usual mountain-breaking strength, but still enough to knock just about anyone out if the burst hit full on.
Rin had a short moment to leap to the side before the Slug Sannin kicked out.
The exercise had three main points. First, drain off some of the excess chakra Rin had so she could possibly heal someone without turning them into paste or giving them chakra poisoning. Second, getting her accustomed to using both her own chakra as well as that of the Sanbi on instinct. And thirdly, learning to dodge with minimum of effort on instinct.
There was no denying that Tsunade was an undisputed master at medical techniques. But that did not change the fact that she was equally skilled in hand-to-hand combat. And since Rin was her student, that automatically made her a punching bag for the Sannin whenever they sparred. Having the massive influx of chakra wasn't doing her any favors, since her teacher demanded she give her maximum effort. A battle of attrition was asking for a quick beatdown.
So Rin continued to dodge, only escaping by the hair's length. Tsunade was always holding herself just above Rin's skill level, edging it up ever so slightly each time they sparred. Today was just one of those days.
She had mistimed her jump, and combined with the shockwave generated by a kick, Rin was off balance when Tsunade came in for a punch.
No time to dodge, she raised her arms to block. Her sensei's fist collided and knocked her flat on her back. Air was forced from her lungs, but the pain she was accustomed to experiencing in times before was noticeably absent.
Over her head, she heard her mentor hiss. Sitting up, Rin saw Tsunade inspecting her hand and immediately went about healing it.
"Where did that come from?" the Slug Sannin asked.
Rin looked at her arms, where something like a turtle shell was still receding. A coral turtle shell. Taking deep, calming breaths, she waited for the shell to disappear entirely before extricating herself from the new indent in the ground.
"Okay," she murmured to herself. "That's new."
She would have to bring that up with Kushina during their next talk. For now, she had to deal with Tsunade. Her hand had already been healed, so she was standing with her arms crossed, waiting for an explanation.
"I have it under control," she said, holding out her arms to see.
Tsunade nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Good." She leaned on the tree next to Rin. "Now, do you mind telling me what you were thinking conducting a surgery like that, no sanitation, anesthetic,
Eyes wide, Rin relaxed against the tree trunk. "There wasn't any time to set up a proper suite for that."
"And how did you manage to pull that off? I've seen surgeries like that done before by experienced medics, but I know you were only starting on that. You managed to complete delicate surgery in the field, in sub-optimal conditions, and without any sign of rejection. That's hard enough with baseline tissue, let alone something as finicky as a Kekkei Genkai."
Rin picked at the grass in front of her. "I thought it was Obito's last request, it had to be done right. I can't really explain how I managed it."
Tsunade sighed, smoothing her hair over. "Right. I suppose I need to go over some old texts. Lovely."
"Shishou?"
"But that's something for another time. Shizune should have some more fish ready for us by now."
[NRE]
Obito felt the urge to skip along as he made his way to the training grounds.
Today was the day! Today, Obito Uchiha was back in action!
Finding his way to Training Ground 11, Obito found the Snake Sannin's team, a half-dozen genin, running through a series of drills, their sensei observing the proceedings with a critical eye.
"Orochimaru-sama," he said. "Or should I refer to you as Orochimaru-sensei?"
The venerable man turned to the newcomer, giving him a genial smile, which only served to make his snake-like appearance all the more eerie. Obito was glad he was a Konoha shinobi, because the idea of facing him in the field or dark alley gave him the creeps.
"Ah, Obito-kun," he said. "I was wondering when I would meet you. And the latter is sufficient while you're under my command."
"Okay, sensei. Is there anything you need from me right now?"
"Not at the moment. Hmm…Speak with Anko-chan. She will help sort you out and work on integrating you with the others."
"Got it, sensei." Obito began to see to his task, but stopped short. "Um…"
"She's just beyond the treeline," Orochimaru said, idly directing him with his hand. "She's supposed to be working with her Summons, but I think she's gotten distracted."
"Thanks!"
Following directions, he presently found the purple-haired girl off by herself, throwing senbon at a stump, landing them in tight groupings that were basically drawing. Rather than run the risk of spooking her, he waited for her to finish, which proved to be sooner rather than later.
Once it looked like she had finished, a clover pattern left in the tree, Obito gave a round of light applause. Though she didn't jump, there was a slight tightening of her muscles, especially around the shoulders. Turning around, she had a brace of senbon still in hand.
"It's not nice to stalk a girl," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"Trying not to get myself put back on medical leave," Obito deadpanned. "Figured I'd at least have a chance to dodge at this distance."
Anko sized him up and stepped up to him, bringing to attention their height discrepancy, barely coming up to his chin
"Who are you again?" she demanded, just a touch impertinent.
"Obito Uchiha."
"…Who?"
"Argh! We were in the same graduating class at the Academy!"
Anko threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, the guy who was always mooning after Rin and getting into fights with Kakashi." Once she reined her mirth back in, she placed her hands on her hips. "What do you want, Tardy?"
Obito's eye twitched slightly. "Orochimaru-sensei told me to find you. Said you'd help sort me out."
"Ah, so you're the new guy he was telling us about. Well, as soon as the genin are finished, you'll get to introduce yourself to the shrimps."
"M'kay." Scratching the back of his head, he said, "Orochimaru-sensei said you would get me up to speed."
"You'll find out soon enough," Anko answered, waving her hand, then looked over her shoulder. "We're just getting ourselves ready for deployment, so don't screw this up for the rest of us, you hear?"
Obito bit the inside of his cheek. "Understood."
Reentering the clearing, Obito followed Anko to the horseshoe forming around the Snake Sannin, all the genin showing signs of fatigue from their earlier workouts. Orochimaru stopped when he noticed them and beckoned them to his side with the other chunin.
"Genin," he said, "we have someone joining us for the foreseeable future, a loan from Team Seven."
There was some murmuring, but all that stilled when Obito stepped forward.
"Hello, I'm Obito Uchiha, a chunin of Konoha."
"He will be accompanying us on missions and training exercises. Speaking of which, it's time we move onto our next order of business: sparring. Obito, you and Anko will start us off.
"Don't you think we're moving a little fast?" Obito asked.
Anko flashed a grin. "What's the matter, Tardy? Scared of a little girl?"
"That's quite enough, Anko-chan," Orochimaru chided.
The younger chuunin nodded, accepting the reprimand. "Yes, sensei."
Nothing else to say to that, the two chuunin squared off. Obito repressed a shudder as Anko smiled like a predator smelling fresh prey.
You've got this, he reminded himself. You've faced Kakashi, Minato-sensei, and Madara the Founder. You've got this.
"Begin!"
At the signal, the two launched into their offensives.
The initial trade of blows was nothing special, each testing the other's defenses, reaction times, stance, etc. Once Obito started applying more of his weight into the fight, Anko changed tactics, and then the differences in their taijutsu styles quickly asserted their presence.
Compared to Obito's all-around school that incorporated some heavier strikes, Anko focused on her speed and mobility, which turned out to be rather fortuitous when a missed punch left a crater behind.
Anko blinked at the display. "Well, you aren't lacking in strength."
"Thanks!" Obito replied, ripping his fist from the ground. "Good thing you're fast."
Bouncing on her toes, Anko bared her teeth, though with less humor than before, and darted back in. Small as she was, she had no trouble ducking under his next punch and striking inside Obito's range as he recycled, then dodging a quick kick as she withdrew to relative safety.
I might have this, Obito amended. Kakashi was fast, but Anko might actually have him beat in that regard. Not quite as strong, but made up for it in spotting weak points and the devious brutality and precision to exploit them.
Once again, she slipped through his defenses, this time striking below the belt. The males of the squad winced as Obito apparently tanked the blow. In that brief moment, he could see Anko blink in surprise as her foot met no resistance, letting him bear-hug her.
Twisting in his grip, squirming around until she could drive her foot into his jaw, stunning him long enough to wriggle out, but failed to completely clear Obito's follow-up kick, his foot clipping her hip and knocking her off balance. While Anko recovered her footing, Obito charged forward, shoulder-checking her out of the ring.
"Match: Obito," Orochimaru announced.
"You got lucky," Anko grumbled, spitting out some grass.
Obito smiled and offered a hand to help her up. "Yes, I did."
Anko looked at the proffered hand and begrudgingly accepted the help. The two bowed and left the ring.
"Excellent," Orochimaru said, giving a light clap, joined by the observing genin. "Obito-kun, your footwork has room for improvement. Also, remember to exercise restraint when practicing with fellow shinobi."
"Yes, sensei," he replied.
"Anko, your execution was admirable, but I must remind you not to use techniques like that in a friendly spar."
"Leave the testicles out of it," she answered, snapping off a quick salute, "got it, Sensei."
"Sen and Yosetsu, you will go next. No explosive tags, this time, if you please. Anko, would you start them off?" Two of the boys jumped into the ring, falling into ready stances. "Obito, may I borrow you for a moment?"
Stepping a bit away from the demonstration as the two began their clash, Orochimaru position them to where they could still observe the match.
"Sensei?" Obito asked.
"I saw what you did during your match."
"Yeah, I think I've used it a couple times now."
The Snake Sannin smiled in good humor, glancing at him. "You have no idea how it works, do you?"
"Haven't exactly had the chance to sit down and look up anything about it, much less practice it."
"From what I've heard, time isn't the issue."
Obito grimaced. "I am not talking to my clan at the moment."
"So I heard. But, not to worry. My own sensei's sensei – Nidiame-sama, that is – had an extensive library on the subject he cultivated in his later years. While under most circumstances, those texts would be sealed and you would never be able to set eyes on them, given present situation, I see no harm in at least asking for the information." Seeing Obito's skeptical expression. "Think about it, for now. It seems too useful a technique to leave undeveloped. In the meantime, let us return to observing the genin."
The boy with dark brown hair hit the dirt rather hard, the black haired teen whooping in victory.
"Yosetsu wins," Anko announced. "Sen, find something to rely on besides exploding tags. You're not going make chuunin like that."
"Got it…" Sen groaned, letting Yosetsu hoist him up.
"Alright, Hitomi, Nobu, you're up next."
The kid with light brown hair and glasses gulped and as the Hyuuga branch member stepped up. Judging by the motions Nobu was making, he was grasping at daggers that weren't presently on him. Hitomi, on the other hand, seemed quite at home with a taijutsu spar.
He nearly jumped when he realized a shadow had fallen on him from his blind side and a wet muzzle prodding his wooden arm. Looking up, he saw a tall, slouching genin with red markings beneath his eyes, leaning to the side scratch the massive dog at his side.
"Sorry about that," the tall genin said. "Name's Yukio. And this is Yuuta." He gave the ninken a pat on the head. "Quick question: what's up with the spirals?" he asked, twirling a finger around his own face. "I don't remember them on you when you were at the academy."
"Classified," Obito replied.
Yukio snorted. "Well, Mister Classified, what's your thought on the match?"
Taking a moment to observe the spar "Nobu-"
"Nobutoshi," Sen supplied.
"Nobutoshi," Obito corrected himself, "looks like he's working without his preferred gear. Kind of a bad match, if Hitomi is as good as -" An impressive barrier-breaking blow opened Nobutoshi to a kick that sent him cartwheeling into Yosetsu. "Okay, I guess that answers that. Kind of curious how that would go if he was working with his specialty."
"Match, Hitomi," Anko called out.
"You good there, Nobu?" Sen asked.
"Peachy," he gasped, settling back onto his feet.
"Hitomi and Rei – say hi, Rei." A girl with dark hair, tinted classes, and a green, high-collared coat inclined her head. "Anywho, they're our teammates, making Team Roku!"
"So you're in the same boat as me. How did that happen?"
Rei gave Obito a sharp look, though it mostly involved drawing her eyebrows together, while Yukio frowned. "We were sent back after a mission gone bad," Yukio replied. "Orochimaru's keeping us until we can pass the chuunin exams or earn a battlefield promotion. Whichever comes first."
"It is rather difficult to be Team Roku without Roku," Rei added.
Obito blinked. "Oh. Sorry."
"Yukio, Rei, you're up next," Anko called out. "No bugs, no dogs, just physical attacks."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Hey, Hitomi, say hi to Oibto."
Without the Inuzuka at hand, the Hyuga glanced at him and quickly dismissed him with her nose turned up.
"Wow. Who pissed in your bed this morning?"
"Hmph."
"That was informative. Fine. Have it your way."
Falling into a silence, the two watched as the dog-nin and bug-nin circled around the ring.
Clicking his tongue and winking, Yukio came out swinging, a rapid-fire barrage of punches. Rei deflected and danced around his strikes, hounded by the dog-nin's offensive.
Obito raised an eyebrow. "I've seen a couple of bouts with Inuzuka brawling, but I don't think I've ever seen someone move that fluidly with it."
"Some of sensei's teachings," Nobutoshi answered. "Yukio's a bit of an ox when it comes to most things."
"Including women," Sen chortled.
Hitomi sneered at the boys. "Shush! We're supposed to be paying attention."
"Yes, mom- and ouch!"
Obito turned back in time to see Yukio recoil from a nerve strike under the arm, bringing his arm up to block the following elbow strike, retaliating with one of his own.
Dropping to the ground, Rei attempted to sweep her opponent's legs, Yukio jumping up and over her. Spinning around, Rei shoved off the ground and delivered a palm-strike to his stomach. Flinching ever so slightly, Yukio dipped down and should-checked her and swung his fist up, and kicked out.
The bug-nin leaned to the side, and back up when Yukio rechambered the kick and lashed out again, clipping her in the shoulder.
Seeing an opening, Yukio coiled back for a haymaker. The heavy right hook flew high, with Rei ducking under the punch and blocking when her opponent pivoted around and carried the momentum into an axe-kick, slamming his heel down.
Rei caught the axe-kick – Obito could almost swear he saw a smirk on Rei's face as she did so – twisting around and flipping him over, then pouncing on him, and jabbing him in the ribs and bopping him in the chin.
"Okay, that one'll buy you dinner!" Yukio said before he reversed their positions.
"Is he always like this?" Obito asked.
"Yup," Yosetsu replied.
Rei had caught both of Yukio's hands, but was unable to dislodge the Inuzuka.
Anko rolled her eyes. "Alright, break it up, you two. Save working out the belligerent sexual tension for behind closed doors."
The two complied, Rei jumping off with all haste while Yukio slowly got back up, dusting himself off with a swagger and a cocky grin.
Orochimaru clapped as the two gave the sign of reconciliation. "Well done, my students."
"Anko-chan, get the genin ready for a town run."
"Aye, sensei!"
"So," Obito said. "What's the plan?"
"Three laps. First lap done on top of the walls, get a lay of the land outside the village. Second go around, they run along the inside. Third lap is agility training."
"And what's our job in all this?"
Without breaking stride or taking a breath, Anko pulled out a brace of kunai, fanning them out in her hands. "We make things interesting," she said, a wild grin on her face.
Obito blinked at the brace of knives. "That's live steel."
"It's blunted," Anko retorted.
"It can still take an eye out."
"Speaking from experience?"
"Secondhand, but yes."
"Heh. I think I might be starting to like you."
"Should I be worried?"
"Maybe. As for the genin, it's not like I'm aiming for them in the first place; just aiming around them. Give 'em something to think about while they practice scouting. Want to help?"
"My aim isn't that great."
"Even better!"
"I'm not stabbing one of the genin, Anko."
"Stabbing is when you're still holding the knife, silly."
"That doesn't make it any better!"
"Whatever. If you're not going to help, shut up and keep up."
[NRE]
The day's training had, miraculously, finished with all eyeballs intact and no one being sent to the hospital. After a quick round of questioning from the Snake Sannin for what they had seen on their run, they were released for the remainder of the day.
While the genin dispersed to the four winds, Anko grudgingly dragged Obito off to educate him on the workings of the team. She proved more amenable to the arrangement when he bought some dango for her.
Walking away from the store with remaining sweets in hand, Anko was wrapping things up when they were intercepted.
"Well, isn't this a surprise?"
"Kurenai!" Anko exclaimed as she and Obito whipped around to face the red-eyed genjutsu specialist. "How's it going, sis?"
"Well enough," she answered, eying Obito. "I didn't know you were seeing anyone."
Obito did a double-take. "Wait. Sis?"
"Nah, this is just the loser that got tagged to my team. And I just live with the Yuuhi clan. Long story. Maybe I'll tell you later."
Anko turned to keep on walking, arms crossed behind her head. Kurenai gave him a conspiratory wink and followed Anko down the street, leaving Obito in perplexed silence, glancing between the two girls.
"What."
A/N: I literally had to rewrite this chapter a couple of times in order to get it to work. Still not happy with it, but on the plus side, I did manage to reel in some characters I was preparing to shuffle off the roster. More importantly: progress!
Orochimaru is a bit of a trick to write, especially at this point in time. From what I gathered, he was supposed to be professional and polite, but not overtly creepy (or at least adept at keeping it well hidden). Whether that will hold true in the future, well…you'll just have to wait and see.
Moving on to other matters, I'm fleshing out more of Anko's backstory and trying to give more to her story than being Orochimaru's former pupil who gets practically forgotten after the time skip. Her being close to Kurenai is part of that.
As for the rest of Team Orochimaru, Yosetsu and Sen are named and modeled after two students from Class 1-B from My Hero Academia. Nobutoshi is Kabuto's eventual sensei, whom no one ever saw fit to name (I cobbled together the personal and family names of Kabuto's adult and child voice actors). Hitomi is supposed to be the gender-flipped version of the Hyuga seen in some of the filler for Team Orochimaru. Yukio is there because I needed someone to be flirty and perverted without being downright creepy, and because the Inuzuka clan will be slightly more involved in things for the story. More on that at a later date. Rei rounds out the Team 8 expies because I can't recall any female Aburame running around, and it seemed funny at the time (and because the Konoha 12 will be slightly shuffled around).
Coming up:
Konoha's Yellow Flash marks his place in legend and the Third Shinobi War comes to a close.
Minato actually proposes to Kushina. There is much rejoicing.
Obito tries his hand at playing matchmaker, with Rin and Kakashi betting on the outcome.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Even if it's to tell me to brush up on the usage of honorifics, constructive criticism is always appreciated.