Chapter Sixteen: Reforged

Obito kept his weathered eye open and his senses open as Anko walked alongside him through the village. It was something he shouldn't have felt the need to do in his own village, but after some rather vocal attacks on the girl, he figured it was best to present as much of an equally obvious defense, something he and Kurenai had been working together on and pulling more of their friends into.

From an outside perspective, it looked like a young couple going out for a walk. Or maybe a high-risk individual and her warden, if one were more suspicious. In reality, Anko just preferred his company. Everyone else always seemed to be busy, and those who weren't were not exactly safe in her eyes. And she couldn't just fight them like she could in the past.

Well, she could, but it wasn't advisable, politically or practically.

Still, the stares were getting a bit irksome, and if it was bad enough for him, Anko was probably fairing far worse. A distraction was in order.

"Where do you come from, Anko-chan?" he asked, foregoing all subtlety.

The results were entirely what he would have expected.

"What?"

"You're close to Kurenai-san, and you said you lived with the Yūhi clan. I guess what I'm asking is that...well, I've never heard of a Mitarashi clan in the village."

Anko raised an eyebrow at him. "Why're you asking?"

"Because I would like to know you better."

"Pfft. You could have just looked at my file. Or better yet, asked Kurenai."

"Sure, I could have. But I don't think enough people have cared enough to ask you directly, and I respect you too much to go behind your back." He ignored the slight stutter in her steps, barely slowly as she hurried back alongside him, clamping his arm with hers.

"Not here," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

The duo clambered to the top of the Hokage Monument. The view had been a significant draw, leading to a park being made during the early days of the Sandiame's reign. Luckily, they had the place to themselves, and the place was open enough that it would take some skill to approach without being detected. Well, some might, but it would be a little challenging, and the ones who be successful in eavesdropping should otherwise occupied.

Not private, as there were probably some watchers keeping their distance, but it was about as close to it for a village comprised of shinobi.

They found a pair of opposing benches behind Minato's head, where Anko wasted no time plopping herself down.

She took a breath and let it out slowly, blowing her bangs up. "My old man was a samurai from Land of Snows. Can't remember exactly why he left, but there had been a falling out between himself and Sōsetsu Kazahana when he became Daimyō, and he was banished alongside a few others. They made it as rōnin mercenaries for a while, but eventually they went their separate ways. Wasn't long before he racked up some gambling debts, paid some of them off and then some, which weren't necessarily satisfied with monetary compensation."

"I follow so far. What about your mother?"

"My mother?" Anko barked out a laugh. "That's how he met my mother!"

Obito sat himself across from her, resting his hands on his knees as he waited for her to grapple with her past.

"She was a prostitute from Land of Grass." The words rushed out in a torrent, though when Obito failed to react, she settled down. "She had been bought by Iwagakure for their…repopulation programs, but they got tired of her or something and sent her to another part of Land of Grass, where she was gainfully employed until meeting my father."

"Really?"

"Yup! I probably have some older half-siblings who are sworn enemies of Konohagakure. If they didn't get killed during the war, that is." She made an idle shrug. "If not, they're certainly avowed enemies of Konoha now."

She pulled her legs to her chest and sat still for a little while, and Obito waited until she was ready to continue.

"Anyway, my mother passed shortly after I was born; barely remember her, though my old man did keep a picture of her. And from my earliest, coherent memories, it was just me and my dad, traveling from one town to the next. Sometimes escorting merchants or caravans, other times running from debt collectors or thugs sent by some guy he had killed. That happened pretty often, as being a mercenary didn't make you popular."

"How did you wind up here?"

"Remember how I my dad racked up some gambling debts and made a fair number of enemies? Well, he was hard enough to kill they put him in the Bingo Books, and some people came to collect his head. Kurenai's dad happened to be in the neighborhood with his team when they were about to close in, and my dad handed me off to them before going off to settle his debts." Anko's jaw set and her eyes watered over a little. "Shinku-san acted as a witness to the resulting duel and brought me back my father's sword, and I was brought to live with the Yūhi clan until I graduated the Academy. After that, I applied for emancipation and got my own apartment. Rinky-dink little place that I ditched as soon as I made chuunin. So, yeah. Quite a story, huh?" She dropped her feet back to the ground and flashed a smile at Obito. "Now how's about one from you?"

Obito worked his jaw, then said, "Frankly, it's rather boring for the first decade or so. I was born, my parents died in the line of duty, leaving me to be raised by my grandmother. You probably know the rest, but I got my start as the 'Family Disappointment' at an early age."

He plucked a blade of grass and rubbed it between his fingers. For all that he had been a crybaby, he was still sometimes shocked at how little emotional impact his parents' deaths had on him at the time.

"Low-end scores on most academic tests, poor performance during training, accident-prone, the works. The only thing I had going for me was physical resilience, and even that got tested more often than not." The tattered blade of grass was cast to the wind. "Then I get assigned to one of the most prestigious Jōnin of the village and alongside one of the greatest prodigies of our generation, managed not to die throughout the war despite my own stupidity."

"That's when you got captured," Anko murmured, though more for herself, the words almost choked out of her. "You're right. I did follow your exploits through the Academy. And I...admired you for it."

"For what? For being a total screw-up?"

"For persevering through those screw-ups," she retorted, heatedly. "I don't know how you find to the strength to keep forging your path when you had the world set against you at times, but that's one of the things I lo-like about you."

"It wasn't easy most days, I can tell you that. But….I've had my friends. My family." Standing up, he looked out over the village. "I guess the least I can do is return the favor whenever I can. So I'll do it for you, too."

Anko looked down at her feet, kicking the ground a bit harder. Just because she was more open to displays of emotion around him, Obito didn't want to embarrass her further by calling attention to it.

[NRE]

Under most circumstances, a book on baby names would be cause to raise eyebrows. In fact, Obito had gotten a couple of raised eyebrows when he had asked for one from the bookstore, as neither Minato or Kushina had gotten one for personal use. Evidently, the copy of Gutsy Ninja was all the inspiration that had been needed in naming their son. And as his house seemed to be a gathering place for most of his peers, peers who may or may not have significant others they were going to be settling down with, he figured it was a solid investment.

Rather than explain anything to anyone, Obito had simply made his purchase and headed straight home to prepare for what could be considered a tea party. It was a small one, just him, Yuji and the two nameless kids, and Nobutoshi and Hitomi so as not to overwhelm the trio. In reality, it was more like a study session and socialization event for Yuji and his fellow survivors.

A tug at Obito's right sleeve returned his attention to the white-haired girl, who eagerly pointed at the kanji she had used from the book and examples of her handwriting off to the side.

"Naoki." he read off from the sheet of scratch paper. "Using the kanji for 'docile' or 'esteemed' and in conjuncture with the kanji for 'tree'. Are you sure that's what you want to go with?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay. Do you want a family name to go with it?"

The tentatively named Naoki tilted her head. "Why? What does that do?"

Obito leaned back, tapping his chin, then snapped his fingers together. "For example, the name I was born with was Obito Uchiha. I go by Obito Namikaze because I was adopted by my Sensei. Names hold a great deal of power, and a family name can denote a sense of belonging. Something that cannot be taken from you unless you give it away.

"Why would I give it away?"

"It depends on who you might marry," Hitomi answered. "If you ever decide to, that is. Or as Obito said, someone of a politically powerful clan or position might choose to adopt you, and they might expect you to change your name as a reflection of your new status. It may be a superfluous exercise if the Senju clan adopts you in full."

"We'll cross the bridge when we get to it," said Obito. "Might as well be prepared."

While Naoki pondered this new information, there was a knock against the door before Mikoto let herself in, Satsuki in her arms and Itachi in tow.

Hitomi and Nobutoshi stood, politely greeting her in unison, to which the Uchiha Lady smiled, letting Itachi close the door behind her. Obito rose and let Mikoto hug him in defiance of clan stoicism and protocol.

"Mikoto-san," said Obito, then tussled Itachi's hair. "Hey, Chibi-chan. What brings you both in today?"

"Likely the same subject that has you all gathered at the moment," Mikoto answered.

Hitomi nodded, then moved to the kitchen with the kettle. "We will require more tea."

"I'll help," Itachi cut in before Obito could object, so he made introductions.

"Naoki-chan, Yuji-kun, and...we're still working on this one. Anyway, this is Mikoto-san. My…how do you fit into the twisted family tree?"

"I'm his older sister." Before Obito could stop sputtering and form a reply, she added, "I see you've decided to expand the family by adoption. Kushina would be beyond pleased, I think."

"Well, I think the Senju clan is handling the official adoption."

"A distinction she would likely ignore. She's distantly related to them, after all." She looked over the trio. "Welcome to the family, strange as it may seem."

Everyone else shuffled around the room to clear a space for Mikoto to sit with Satsuki, leaving space for Hitomi and Itachi.

Mikoto had taken it upon herself to regularly check up on her wayward relation, visits that had continued in spite Uchiha's stance on his existence. Sometimes, Itachi managed to tag along, reportedly irritating the clan elders, though they could hardly tell his mother to not bring her children with her.

Said mother let Obito hold her daughter, who managed to reach out for the loose strands of his hair.

"So," said Obito. "Should I have been calling you 'nee-san' all this time?"

"Your parents were responsible for me when I first arrived in the village," Mikoto replied, "So, after a fashion, yes."

"Huh. How come I don't remember this?"

"You had just been born shortly before I made Chuunin and moved out."

"Aren't you only ten years older than me?"

"Twelve." A few companionable moments of silence before Mikoto asked, "How is Anko-chan doing?"

Obito shook his head. "It's going to be rough going for a while. The Sandiame is covering the political angle, but I think her career is going to stall for the foreseeable future. Me and Kurenai keep checking on her, but that's the most any of us can reasonably offer at this point."

He had wanted to bring Anko today, but she pointed out that her past association with Orochimaru might do more harm than good, even if she was a victim of the snake's machinations as they were.

Mikoto hummed to herself, then said, "'But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come back into being, nor can the dead be brought back to life'."

"Who said that?"

"Some ancient general. Long before the Elemental Countries were founded. The name escapes me at the moment."

"I can understand the issues that come with being modified against your will, but…he was her Sensei. She was someone she had placed her complete trust in, and he tossed her out like she was yesterday's trash. I mean, imagine if Minato-sensei or Jiraiya-sama had turned around and… Mikoto-san?"

Mikoto's brows had furrowed in concentration, looking a little lost. Mikoto Uchiha, Lady of the Uchiha, wasn't supposed to anything other than graceful, composed, and demure in the face of whatever troubles and trials came her way. Mikoto, Jonin of Konohagakure was feisty, fiery, and a little playful amongst her teammates and allies.

It was as if someone had taken a hammer to both of those images, and seeing her like this was wrong on a level Obito couldn't rightly put a finger on.

"Is something the matter?" he asked. "You were spacing out a bit."

"I don't know," she whispered, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "Don't mind me. It wouldn't be the first time I spaced out."

In his arms, Satsuki gurgled, reminding him to keep rocking the baby. "Was it something I said or what? And does it happen often?"

"I honestly couldn't say." The Uchiha Lady gracefully leaned back into the couch. "And as far as my memory goes, it used to happen quite frequently. There wasn't much going on in my head besides grueling training and survival lessons until I was taken in by Kaname and Sajin, and the Academy after that."

"Wow. Your parents must have been real pieces of work."

Mikoto inclined her head. "Regardless, Kushina dragging me to every possible social engagement she could think of eventually worked it out of me." She shrugged, slightly. "For the most part."

Naoki and Yuji exchanged knowing looks, and Obito followed the same trail of thought they were running.

As far as her memory goes?He thought. What had happened to Mikoto in the past?

There had to be something wrong with sending their kids off to fight so young. He could see the twisted necessity during previous wars, but there was nonetheless something wrong about seeing it as something desirable.

Rather than linger on that unpleasant thought he turned to the younger boy, and asked, "What do you think of 'Yamato' as a name?"

The youngest of the survivors sat up, still working on lines to practice his handwriting. His hand came up to his brow, smudging some ink on his forehead, and Obito let himself smile in spite of the circumstances.

He didn't like how ANBU had "appropriated" the boy, but Kakashi had assured him that this was so he could train his grafted bloodline in private, and that he had people he could trust keeping an eye on him when he couldn't.

Still, trees didn't thrive in perpetual darkness, so Obito would make sure the boy would have reasons to return to the light.

[NRE]

Obito woke up the next morning to a frantic pounding on his front door, Rin calling his name. His most recent works of fuuinjutsu were neatly ordered and secured, so it was a simple matter of rising from kneeling next to the table and striding to the front door.

"Hey, Rin," he said, "Good Morning to you, too. What's troubling you lately?"

Rin collected and calmed herself, then asked, "Have you seen Kakashi recently?"

"…Define 'recently'."

"It's been over two weeks. He said he was on a training mission, but he didn't say how long it would take."

"Now that you mention it, I don't think I've seen him since I let him borrow Sensei's…journal…" A proverbial lightbulb turned on. "Oh."

"That's a good 'oh', right?"

"I think so. Let me get dressed right quick."

A few minutes later, he had rejoined Rin on the front porch, tying his hair back.

"Okay," said Obito. "Where could he have gone off to study an entire book without interruption?"

Hopefully it wasn't ANBU headquarters. Neither of them had clearance to go there, if they even knew where it was, and the only person they could ask, Yūgao, was still out of the village to the best of their knowledge.

"Let's check his old house," Rin suggested, and the two of them launched themselves to the rooftops.

[NRE]

The Hatake compound was a fairly small space. Hardly surprising, as they were never a particularly large clan, even when the village had been first founded. Having grown up in the sprawling complex that was the Uchiha compound, it was effectively the size of a postage stamp in comparison

"Would have thought this place would have been more overgrown," Obito wondered aloud.

"He still puts out D-rank missions to keep the weeds out and the grass green," Rin replied, walking to the front door. "The rest of the place is normally locked and secured, and has mousetraps and the like to keep vermin from taking it over."

"I see." Obito stretched out his senses and felt the low but steady hum of electricity he had come to associate with Kakashi's chakra signature. "He's here."

Rin threw the door open without a care, stomping inside, and Obito followed her in.

For a place that hadn't been lived in, Obito noted that it smelled surprisingly clean, as if someone had gone through with some industrial cleaners recently. The shutters and curtains were still in place, undisturbed. Covers were still over the furniture. No pictures, plants, or decorations to speak of. Without with the scent of candles and the warmth of human occupation, it was hard to tell anyone had lived in there since Sakumo's death.

The first sign of life was a neat pile of MRE wrappers had collected into a trash bag. Idly picking one up, Obito saw several equations written on them, some scratched over. Not that he could make any sense of them, but he could make out some pieces he had stared out until his eyes had rolled back into his head.

"What are you two doing here?"

Rin and Obito jumped and wheeled around to face their teammate. The first thing they noticed was taht Kakashi had grown a decent half-beard with patchy sideburns. Despite the state he was in, he had evidently taken time to bathe and had changes of clothes.

"Don't do that!" Rin protested, once she found her voice.

"What time is it?" he asked, wincing at the sudden noise.

"It's half past noon," Obito answered. "And you look awful with a beard."

Kakashi brought a hand to his chin, and materialized a mask from his back pocket. "How long have I been out of contact?"

"Two weeks."

"Seventeen days."

"I like the two weeks option better." His mask back in place, he sighed. "Before you chew me out, I needed someplace that wasn't going to have people coming and going at all hours. So, no working in ANBU HQ, no working in the apartment or your house..."

"I suppose that makes sense," Rin admitted. "So you came here?"

"It met the requirements." His eyes briefly drifted to the living room. "And I figured it was time to confront some demons."

There was nothing either of them could say about that, so Obito asked the next question on his mind.

"First off, how did you survive on those for over two weeks?"

"Didn't want to spend time cooking and cleaning," Kakashi answered. "I made sure I was off the lists for training exercises so I could work on this."

"And what is 'this'?" asked Rin.

"Better to sit down for this."

The three of them settled onto the couch and easy chair with a crinkle of the tarp, an awkward silence passing until Kakashi cleared his throat, then began.

"You know how Obito loaned me Sensei's journal, right? Well, I was tearing my hair out going over the code he mentioned. First thing I did was read through the thing, cover to cover. Then I transcribed everything to another journal, exactly as it appears in the original. Equations, coordinates, commentary, the works."

"I follow so far," said Rin, slowly nodding.

"And in plain language, please?" Obito pleaded.

Kakashi clasped his hands in front of his face. "It wasn't code, Obito. It was equation after equation where he got so used to filling in the blanks in his head, he just stopped completing it. Between that and the mish-mash of half-completed thoughts he jotted down mixed with keywords to help his thought processes, it was nigh-indecipherable."

"But you figured it out, right?"

Kakashi smiled and vanished from the couch, outlined by a burst of silvery light, and to where he had appeared behind them earlier, landing in a low crouch. When he rose, he gave a brief flourish.

"The only thing I need to do is miniaturize it and slap it onto a kunai, which by comparison is going to be pathetically easy."

Rin and Obito had shot to their feet, gobsmacked at the sudden turn of events. Rin then smiled a little and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"As much as I'd love to see you jump straight into that, first things first: shower, shave, and get some sleep. You can ramble on about each and every detail of your research then."

Seeing Kakashi sway a little, Obito saw the sense in that.

[NRE]

After the appropriate steps of self-care had been undertaken, Kakashi had dragged them out to Training Ground 3, vibrating with childlike enthusiasm. A far cry from Minato's own three-pronged kunai, Kakashi had taken a sheet of paper and wrapped it around the handle of a perfectly ordinary kunai, the wrinkles in the page evident when he flipped it out to show them.

"This is just the test model," Kakashi explained. "Once I fine-tune the process, I'll see about replicating what Minato-sensei did for his own, or coming up with my own spin on it."

He tossed the knife into the air a twirling arc, then snatched it mid-flight and threw it down range. The blade sailed down a straight line, hitting the tree some forty yards away. Kakashi vanished from sight, then reappeared precisely on the kunai. Oriented entirely the wrong way.

Gravity reasserted itself, dropping the prodigy onto his head.

"Looks like there's still adjustments to be made," Obito laughed.

Kakashi regained his footing with all the dignity he could muster. "Hmph. I'd like to see you try to decode Sensei's notes. Oh, wait? You couldn't, which is why you came to me. And really, managing a dimensional rift isn't as easy as you make it out to be."

There was little heat in his words, so Obito laughed some more. "Yeah, yeah. Your genius continues to astound us all."

"Good. Rin? Are you laughing, too?"

"A laugh is vocalized," Rin replied. "I'm simply smiling." Ignoring Kakashi's martyred expression, then asked, "So, what's the next step?"

"It's going to be a while before I can make use of it in combat, but that's more than what I had when I started. More than what anyone had, actually."

"Oh, by the way, here." Rin handed Kakashi a note. "Momoe-san would like to tell you that your order is ready."

[NRE]

Kakashi did not need to be dragged to this appointment. It wasn't as if it were an actual appointment in the first place, just picking up a completed weapon. And yet, Obito was doing just that, shoving him through the door to Tatara's.

"Shin, can you get Momoe-san for us?" asked Obito.

The young apprentice manning the front counter scampered into the back, and Obito finally released Kakashi.

"There. I'll go check out some of the surplus gear while you're doing your thing."

Momoe came out from the back, carrying a slender wooden box that was stained a dark blue.

"I was wondering what had happened to you," she said.

"I got wrapped up in a research project."

Walking around the counter, Momoe set the case on the counter and flicked the latches up and opened it. Stepping over for a closer look, Kakashi got a whiff of fresh leather, likely a contribution of the sheathe, which was new, likely in consideration of the added length. It was still within the range of a tantō, if only barely.

The blacksmith presented the completed blade to him with utmost reverence.

He gingerly took it from her hands, twisting it around to check the edge. Not out of any doubt on her skills, just a habit of checking his gear personally. Taking in every detail, Kakashi decided if there was only one good thing about seeing the blade reforged, it was that he could look at it without thinking of the time it was covered in his father's blood. A fresh history.

"I had to play with the chemical compositions, as some of the ingredients are...kind of difficult to get a hold of with some of the embargoes active. But in function, it should perform as it did originally."

When Kakashi managed to find his voice again, he bowed and said, "Thank you."

"Just make sure you polish it on a regular basis." The blacksmith paused, then added, "Please don't quote me on that. Besides, that would be your wife's prerogative."

Something dropped at the other end of the shop and Obito coughed.

"Rin and I aren't married," Kakashi replied, flatly.

Momoe flushed and shuffled back. "Oh. I thought…? Nevermind! Bad assumption on my part." She shut the case again, then planted her hands on the counter, a touch of exhaustion that hadn't been evident before. "Sorry for that. Though, if you're open to any advice, figure out what the two of you want. The sooner the better."

"I'm not exactly looking to rush things." Kakashi secured Hakkō Chakura Tō to his belt, letting himself acclimate to the new weight. "Neither is she, for that matter. We already made that mistake once."

"As long as you're discussing it. But take it from someone with experience: you never know how long you actually have. Even if you chase every moment with zeal, savoring each one, once things are over, you'll find yourself wondering what might have been."

Rather than argue the matter further, Kakashi accepted the advice for what was meant and took his leave.

[NRE]

Of course, the quiet life soon came to an end, and Obito marched himself into a briefing room, where the teams had already gathered. Everyone took their seats, and he took stock of his teammates for the mission. Rin, along with Hitomi, Rei, and Yukio and Yuuta. Kakashi sat at the head of the table.

"What's the mission?"

"The Daimyō of the Land of Fire has asked us to escort a trade convoy from the mainland to Land of Snows. To that end, he is sending one of his ministers as an emissary to handle further negotiations and working out the beginnings of a trade agreement."

"That's going to require this many of us?"

"The Daimyō has his own guards, but we're going to be cutting through Land of Steam and setting sail from there, and that's going to put us pretty close to Land of Lightning. The Fire Daimyō doesn't want to leave any tempting targets for them to budge on the peace, for Kumo, Iwa, or any other village that might be looking to spark violence."

A series of maps, both of the northward roads to the Bay of Storms and of the islands that made up the Land of Snows, along with the most recent profiles of the Snow Daimyō, his brother, and a few other figures of note in the court, and the emissary, one Kanto Notabi.

"That is one impressive mustache," said Obito.

"Land of Snow. As the name implies, snow is on the ground for about half the country for roughly ninety percent of the year. And that's what parts that aren't glaciers. Lots of resources present, especially copper, tin, and iron. They also ship ice across the mainland. Apart from the handful of port cities and the capitol, most of the cities are underground, though I heard they were trying to fix that. Some special project or something to make the inlands more habitable. Not a bad place, though if you're doing anything other than skiing, ice fishing, or soaking it up in one of their saunas, there's really not a whole lot to do for vacationing." He paused, then added, "Unless you like freezing to death, that is."

The six humans perused the packet Kakashi had assembled, all detailing the likely routes their VIP would be taking.

"What kind of person is the Snow Daimyō?" asked Hitomi.

Kakashi considered it for a moment, and said, "Sōsetsu Kazahana is an affable ruler and well-liked in return by his citizens. He's instituted a number of programs to build up and modernize infrastructure. To the best of my knowledge, Land of Snows is considered the front-runner on in industrialization, and that's across the entirety of the continent."

"That can't have been popular," Yukio muttered.

"Indeed. His modernization plans have been highly controversial, not to mention costly, and he already had a serious pushback from advisors and other nobles when he opened the country back up during his ascension."

Obito raised an eyebrow. Judging by some of the looks being shared, everyone else was getting the same implication.

It also explains why they're paying for two full teams of chūnin, he thought.

Kakashi set his eyes on each of them in turn, making sure the message had gotten across, then said, "Prepare for intense winter weather, and a long-term stay under such conditions. While the coldest days of the year are already past, they're in their equivalent of a rain season. Snow, sleet, and in some cases hail will be near-constant until summer is in full swing."

A/N: Troublesome chapter, but at least it's done, and now it's out before I can second-guess myself. Again.

I'm trying to get use to the start of canon, but there's some things I want to set up before we hand things off to Naruto and his generation. All told, there's five or six more major landmarks we need to hit from the POV of Obito and his peers, plus a couple of minor events that will be covered in between. Once we get through that, I might rename the project, because while the initial plan for the story has shifted and evolved significantly since I started this so many years ago, but I think it has also crystallized a bit more in its identity.

Something for the future, I guess. In the meantime, we're getting into the backdrop for the first Naruto movie, Clash in the Land of Snows. If you've watched it already, don't be surprised if a few details change. If not, you don't have anything to compare it to.

Changes:

- Anko's backstory, because it didn't seem to exist outside of her connection to Orochimaru.

- Mikoto's backstory. There's a fair bit more going on with her than in canon. Not that there was all that much to begin with, but she has her own part to play here.

Next up:

- "He's more mustache than man, twisted and evil."

- Obito and Rin have a much-needed talk.

- The aforementioned backdrop to Clash in the Land of Snows.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know in a PM or review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Until next time!

Winterman, out.