Bonds Through Time
The Second Arc
Chapter Twenty-Six: Obito's Souvenir
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Kakashi
It was a living nightmare for Kakashi. He'd spent many nights reliving various nightmares— finding the body of his father with blood staining the floor of the family home, leaving Obito behind under a mountain of rubble, Rin falling dead with the gore of her burst heart staining his right hand, Minato and Kushina gone. He'd made peace with being separated from Sakura, knowing she'd be fine in the future — with him, even if he had to wait over a decade to be reunited.
But this was just agony. He ignored Naruto's warnings and called his ninja hound pack. He'd sent them to scatter in search of Sakura.
Shisui had also taken off, moving so fast in a perimeter around the caves so as to cover an insane amount of territory. The Yellow Flash would have been proud of the Uchiha prodigy. Naruto simply sat towards the edge of the perimeter, glowing yellow, sitting lotus style, meditating.
Eventually, Shisui and Kakashi ambled back towards Naruto, both of their postures reflecting the defeat they felt.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Shisui whispered. "Who the hell was that? I feel like I've felt his chakra before, but I can't quite place it."
There was no trace of the man in the orange mask or of Sakura. Kakashi kneeled down as his ninja hounds came trotting back towards him, tails tucked between their legs in disappointment. All but one returned. Shiba— the silver dog that had grown extra familiar with Sakura was still out searching.
"That was Obito Uchiha." Naruto's yellow glow faded and he stood, abandoning his meditation. He turned towards Kakashi, his crystal clear blue eyes shone with the familiar determination he'd seen so many times in Minato's gaze
Kakashi said nothing, grateful his mask and hitai-ate obscured the majority of his face and hid the maelstrom of his emotions. But, by the concerned look on Naruto's face, this man knew Kakashi's nuances and didn't need to see in order to understand his devastation.
"What? Obito died like ten years ago!" Shisui argued. "And he would never do such a thing! He was always so kind to me growing up! We used to play tag together when we were younger and we used to go into the village and get dango after either of us returned from missions."
"Obito died eight years ago," Kakashi protested, finally finding his voice— gruffer than usual. "A lot can happen in even just a year when you fight in a war."
Naruto ran his fingers through his golden mane. "Yeah, yeah. Well, he would have died under normal circumstances if Madara hadn't found him and used alien magic crap to heal the damaged half of his body."
"Alien magic crap?" Shisui repeated. He continued to scan the distance, his Sharingan glowing in the darkness of the evening.
"Yeah, I mean, I used some to grow Kakashi a new eye during the war after a resurrected Madara snatched it away," Naruto explained. He gestured towards Kakashi's covered left eye. "Surely, you noticed that future you had two gray eyes."
"I did notice," Kakashi murmured. He was very curious how that happened. It was a little encouraging to know that a version of him without the Sharingan was powerful enough to be the Hokage. Or maybe there just weren't any decent candidates? He doubted that reasoning after working with the future shinobi — they were talented.
"You need to talk to Jiraiya," Naruto suggested. "He's the one gathering intel on the Akatsuki." The muscle in his jaw spasmed as he mentioned Jiraiya.
Kakashi narrowed his visible eye. "And how do you know Jiraiya?" He didn't really want to deal with the man— even if he had amazing talent in literature. He still hadn't forgiven him for what he did to Sakura. But, if Sakura could work with him, he would too.
"He trained me, just like Granny Tsunade trained Sakura-chan, and Orochimaru trained Sasuke," Naruto explained. He grimaced. "Though, I really hope Sasuke avoids that snake this time. I would really like to not deal with him."
"Sasuke will have no need to run off to that psychopath," Shisui vowed. "I can't imagine Orochimaru training anyone out of altruism. He probably just wanted to steal Sasuke's body as a host in his quest for immortality. There are plenty of epic shinobi loyal to the Leaf that don't experiment on children my little cousin can train under." He turned towards Kakashi. "I know, I was supposed to suppress your memories, but can we wait a while longer? I really need you to have all the facts."
Kakashi nodded curtly. Like hell he was going to allow his memories to be repressed at a time like this. "We'll report back to the village. Let the Hokage know. He can contact Jiraiya."
"Or we could just pick a direction and start looking," Naruto suggested. "It won't be that hard to find Pervy-sage. We just need to check all the popular bathhouses and brothels."
The idea was especially tempting for Kakashi. Not because of the bathhouses, but because he didn't want to just do nothing. Unfortunately, time was not his own and he had a job to do. He was an Anbu captain and as such there was always demand for his skills. Frankly, he didn't care too much about whatever covert espionage or assassination might need him. For once in his life, his priorities were not the Leaf. He simply could not lose another precious person— especially her. And he knew that if this was in fact Obito, he would never forgive Kakashi for Rin's death. Sakura could not be a casualty!
"Since we don't want to be considered missing-Nin, we will need to get permission from the Hokage," Shisui countered. He laid his hand on Kakashi's shoulder. It was a solid, grounding hand. Maybe he felt the rising panic in Kakashi's heart.
"I won't exactly fit in," Naruto pointed out. "At this age, I'm the spitting image of my dad. I'll head towards Mount Myoboku— it's in Mist. I figure the closer to the Village of the Hidden Rain, the better chance of finding Akatsuki and thereby Sakura. From there I'll see if I can further my sensory range. Assuming my summons contract works here, I can contact Jiraiya that way." He scratched the back of his head and groaned. "Too bad Sasuke isn't here with his Rinnegan or Sai with his cartoon birds. I've been spoiled by the easy transportation."
"Sakura's slug summons worked here," Kakashi reminded him. They'd all had one of those slugs hidden under their shirts during the battle.
Naruto nodded. "Right, of course." He reached for Kakashi's other shoulder and clapped his hand over it. "Sakura-chan is strong. She punched a goddess with no other powers than her own. And she knows Obito's abilities. Your friend still dwells within Obito's heart, though it's buried deep under many layers of pain and anger. Sakura-chan has a knack for melting even the iciest of hearts."
In spite of everything, Kakashi did one of his eye smiles at Naruto's words. "She would say the same about you."
Naruto grinned from ear to ear. "Believe it! She and I are a lot alike." He released Kakashi's shoulder and ran his fingers through his messy hair. "There's a reason I fell for her when we were kids." He met Kakashi's gaze. "And a reason you did as well."
"Yeah, yeah. Sakura-chan is great," Shisui said, retracting his hand from Kakashi's shoulder. "Go off to your mountain, Naruto, so you can track her down. I'll feel better when you're both back in your time, so let's try to get this done within the next fortnight. We still have Danzo to worry about. And since Obito removed him from the fights as well, we have to assume Sakura isn't safe. If she's with him, Anbu will find her because I know the Hokage intends to have us hunt him down."
The three parted ways, Naruto for the the mountains and Shisui and Kakashi back towards the village. With chakra enhanced strides they made it back shortly before dawn. And while he was exhausted, Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. They would report to the Hokage in a few hours, let the old man get his rest. Hiruzen had finally stepped up— working with the Uchiha, acknowledging Danzo's crimes, and reforming the Anbu himself instead of letting someone else take care of his problems. While it's important to delegate, a leader still needed to lead.
Kakashi was keenly aware that as a potential future Hokage, he could understand some of the responsibility Sarutobi shouldered. Though, he certainly disagreed with the man's questionable decisions over the years. He could only hope he wouldn't be corrupted by politics and could remember the village's true priorities— the prosperity of its people.
Normally, early in the morning, Kakashi would visit the Memorial and talk with Rin and Obito. Now with the knowledge that the latter was alive, he couldn't bring himself to do so.
Kakashi could sense the last of his ninja hounds. Shiba was in the forest, not moving, but possibly observing. Curious, Kakashi headed in that direction. He knew Sakura wouldn't be there — she'd been taken by Obito. But, Kakashi couldn't help the ember of hope. He moved stealthily, cloaking his chakra and settled in the upper boughs of the tree where Shiba hid in nearby bushes.
He found a comfortable spot in the woods where a little pink-haired seven year old girl practiced her taijutsu stances and worked on balance and core strengthening exercises as the first rays of sunlight brushed the horizon. Kakashi watched the young version of Sakura train.
He thought back to his own childhood, prior to Sakumo's suicide when he learned the taijutsu forms from his father. Later, he would join in with Guy Might and his father Duy— the green beasts of Konoha gave Kakashi an open invitation.
Sakura stopped abruptly and looked up into the trees. He knew she couldn't sense him, his chakra was properly masked. Perhaps she simply had the intuition of being watched?
"Get it together, Sakura," she murmured to herself, shaking her head, her long bangs falling into her face. She adjusted the bow holding her hair back and started over with the forms.
She was a cute kid, but it definitely was strange to see the younger version of the woman he loved. It was like looking at the kid sister of your girlfriend — there were similarities, you were fond of the youngster, but you didn't have any of the romantic thoughts — thank goodness. Kakashi knew he had some issues, but that wasn't one of them.
He pulled a kunai from his pouch and began to dig under his fingernails absently. He wore his usual fingerless black gloves. He noticed that the Sakura of the future also wore similar gloves. This kid version did not. When did she develop that habit? Did she learn it from him? Or was it a coincidence?
Sakura paused again and this time turned away from Kakashi. "I know you're there," she called out.
Stepping out of the shadows, Shisui entered the small area. He held his hands outwards towards her and smiled gently. The teen's easy going personality made him favorite of children throughout the village. "Hey there, Sakura-chan. I thought I told you not to come out here by yourself."
"Shisui!" Sakura rushed towards the dark-haired boy and threw her arms around his waist in a hug. He patted the top of her head lazily. "I can't practice at home," Sakura said with a huff, stepping back from him. "Mom says I'm likely to break something and told me to run off and play and not make a mess of her house."
"I see. She told you that before dawn did she?" Shisui asked, his tone a little harsh.
Sakura stepped back and looked pointedly away. "I haven't been able to train with Sasuke-kun or Naruto-kun after school lately. They've been staying with Master Iruka. I didn't want to get left behind."
"Has your dad been practicing with you?" Shisui asked, much more softly.
Sakura shook her head and the tension in her shoulders eased up. "No. He says I really shouldn't put so much effort into learning the shinobi way. It's highly unlikely I'll graduate to become a genin. It doesn't matter if I score well on tests. Dad went to school at the Academy and had top marks on his tests, but he's an engineer and not a shinobi."
"You can come over to the Uchiha district. You can train with Sasuke and Naruto there," Shisui suggested. "Naruto was officially adopted into Sasuke's family. You'll make a great kunoichi, Sakura-chan. We're a ninja village. There are all sorts of types of shinobi you know. I can escort you to train with your friends and back home afterwards myself."
"That's generous," Sakura said, ducking her chin and avoiding his gaze again. "But, I don't want to be a bother. I know you're busy. And I don't want to take away from Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun. They're more advanced than me. I don't want to be annoying or risk holding them back." She gestured towards the trees of the forest. "I know how to do the forms, I just have to practice. Master Iruka showed us."
"Then I would suggest Izumi to train with. She'd be glad to help you and she's extremely patient. And there's more to being a shinobi than practicing the forms. The clan kids all have the advantage of additional training. I'm inviting you to train with the Uchiha, Sakura-chan. And when you're older, I will personally tutor you in genjutsu." Shisui slung his arm over Sakura's small shoulders. "Come, let's head out. I was on my way to have breakfast with Auntie Mikoto. She'd love to have you over. Since it's early, we can probably help her in the kitchen. She'd really appreciate that. Naruto lives there now too."
"I don't know. I should probably head home," Sakura murmured. "I had planned to be out here for another hour or two before class started, but I should probably just head home. I don't want my mother to be angry with me."
"Sometimes, parents get mad at their kids," Shisui explained. "But, Sakura-chan, you're not just a kid. You're a shinobi in training. Come on, I'm exhausted and I might fall over. You really should keep an eye on me."
Sakura giggled. "Well, I don't want you to get hurt." She smiled up at him and tucked her hair behind her ear shyly. "I won't train in the mornings by myself anymore."
"Good. After school is a better time to train anyway. You're able to incorporate the new things you've learned and then when you sleep afterwards you retain it better. You need to get more sleep, you're a growing girl, Sakura-chan." Shisui reached over and tussled her petal pink hair.
"You don't think Lady Uchiha will mind?" Sakura asked, referred to Sasuke's mother. "Or Chief Uchiha?"
"They will be over-joyed to have you join us," Shisui assured her. "Then you can walk with the boys to school this morning afterwards."
"Okay," Sakura agreed.
"Starting tomorrow, just come home with Sasuke and Naruto after school when Itachi picks them up. I'll have Auntie Mikoto make the arrangements with your parents," Shisui offered. "In the mean time, promise you won't keep training in the woods by yourself— especially in the dark." He looked up briefly at the tree in Kakashi's general direction. "You never know who might be watching."
Kakashi snorted softly under his mask at the pointed jab. This lonely little girl, had both parents, yet was still off training by herself. If little Sakura trained under the Uchiha, she'd be a little more self-sufficient. The world was dangerous and any extra skills could mean the difference between life and death.
Though, loneliness seemed to stem more from lack of clan rather than lack of parents. The Hatake clan currently stood at a single member. He knew that he and Sakura were ideal for each other— at least when this girl became that woman. He couldn't help his Sakura right now, but maybe he could help this Sakura.
He knew sleep was elusive and there were still a few hours before he would report to the Hokage. Maybe he'd review some of the clan laws in regards to betrothals. Or maybe he should just let things fall into place naturally. Kakashi had never been particularly trusting of fate.
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Sakura
The familiar tug of the tether ready to pull Sakura back to her own time was rudely cut asunder. A pair of unforgiving arms banded around her and snatched her away from her friends. She recognized the kamui of Obito Uchiha. The first time she'd experienced it, she and Naruto had been left in a strange alternate universe with her father as the previous Hokage, a flirtatious Sasuke Uchiha, an emo Naruto that went by Memna, and a heroic Itachi Uchiha (which to be fair, he would be in this reality too now). It had only been for a few days and she never ate pickled plums again after that experience.
Then during the last battle against Kaguya, she and Obito had teleported between multiple dimensions trying to find Sasuke. However, the Obito that had snatched her away from her friends was an angry twenty-one year old version whom she'd just foiled his revenge against the Uchiha in a very big way. She suspected the imminent interaction to be less than savory.
And after the past month of gallivanting around the village fourteen years removed from her own time, Sakura had been eager to return to her own time. She didn't want to keep tampering with the past, even if there were so many other things she'd love to correct. Years spent under Tsunade training and with the access to the Hokage archives that came with her Master's association and later with Kakashi's she'd learned a lot about the history of the Leaf and some of the great enemies that had been missions.
Unfortunately, she didn't know a great deal about Obito. The exceptions for a few memories Kakashi had shared with her and Naruto and the two times they met during the Fourth War.
They popped back into an alternate dimension and Kisame — the gigantic shark-like man with massive chakra reserves sat across from a roaring fire, idly poking it with a stick. His sword Samehada was in his hands a moment later and Sakura's chakra was drained just as quickly.
Sakura fell to her knees as Obito tossed her away from him. The rapid siphoning of her chakra by Samehada made her woozy. She needed to keep her wits about her. She didn't know where they were, but she wasn't even sure if they were on Earth anymore. Obito had access to several dimensions, though it wasn't a fire planet, acid ocean, or crushing gravity. And if he was hiding away in alternate realities, that would certainly explain the difficulties the Allied Forces had in tracking him.
Obito may have been misguided, but he wasn't stupid.
"An entire year — wasted!" Obito roared, pacing, his orange mask obscuring his face and his visible dark hair sticking up in every direction. "I've spent a year stoking the fires of resentment within the Uchiha. You show up a month ago and foiled everything!"
"Increasing the grief of others won't bring her back," Sakura said quietly. "Do you really think Rin would forgive you for murdering children?"
Obito's visible dark eye narrowed behind his mask. The familiar crimson of his Sharingan had receded into Uchiha onyx. "How do you know that name?"
"Madara used your grief against you. There is no all powerful jutsu that will bring her back," Sakura countered. Which, technically that wasn't true. Nagato had used the Rinnegan to bring back the lives he took when he razed Konoha. And Obito had brought back Madara. Those were true resurrections, unlike the Edo Tensei. The price for such an action was the life of the caster - much like Granny Chiyo sacrificed herself for reviving Gaara. But Rin would have been dead for eight or nine years at this point. "And even if you could. Snatching her spirit from the Purelands would be cruel indeed. Or worse yet, what if she has been reborn and her soul resides in another body?"
Obito stared at her and then began to cackle. "You know nothing, girl! I am Madara!"
"You're not Madara. Though, I suppose he is responsible for saving you— healing the crushed half of your body with White Zetsu." Sakura leaned back, exhausted. They hadn't bothered to disarm her and she still have several kunai and poisoned senbon stashed in her supply pouches. She may have thought they were returning home, but Lady Tsunade didn't train a fool. A wise kunoichi was always armed even if Sakura rarely used weapons outside of her own fists and chakra scalpels. "He's being used too though. You're both being used by Kaguya Otsutsuki. She wants to turn us into chakra food and consume us —everyone that ever lived that had chakra. You'd snatch Rin right out of the Purelands for that monster to literally eat if you resurrect Madara and revive the ten-tails."
Kisame stared back at her with a thoughtful expression, but said nothing. He was listening impartially. If she couldn't reason with Obito, she had to hope to reason with the Mist shinobi. He'd worked with Itachi for a decade. He had to be smart or else the two never would have gotten along so well and become such a fierce-some duo.
"Non-sense," Obito hissed. He turned back towards Sakura, a short sword in his hand. "I don't have a lightning blade, but this will do. I saw the way Hatake looked at you — like you were a safe harbor in a sea of turmoil. I'd have rather killed you in front of him, but you're so annoying."
Even without chakra enhanced strength, Sakura blocked the blade coming for her using a good ole fashioned kunai. She'd already had one child stolen from her. And she knew, the moment Kisame started sucking away her chakra and he knew it too. "Please, don't. I'm pregnant. If you want to kill me later, fine. But I ask this small mercy."
Obito drew back his blade and looked back at Kisame for confirmation.
"It's a tiny little thing, but it's there. Mixed with the chakra of the Copy Ninja," Kisame answered. Something in his expression softened. "You can't kill babies, boss. I do draw a line there at least."
Obito's expression, what was visible behind his mask twisted. He wasn't above killing babies. He'd done just that in the original Uchiha massacre. Sakura had just recently healed a three-year old would-be victim the day before. Obito slid the blade into the holster at his hip and stepped back. "Keep her drained."
"We could just leave her. You can collect her another time. It's not hard to take one little girl," Kisame reasoned.
"No. She knows too much." Obito strode away. "I'll hunt us down some rabbits. We'll camp for the night and then we'll return and head North."
After Obito vanished into the darkness of the forest. Kisame settled comfortably across from Sakura, stretching out one of his long legs and drawing the other close to his chest to rest his arm over the knee. "You cost us our new recruit. I was looking forward to working with the kid," Kisame said. "I saw Itachi when he was promoted to chunin at the exams years back. He was something else."
Itachi would no longer be joining the Akatsuki. "He really needed to spend more time with his family," Sakura murmured. A faint smile crossed her lips. She failed at not keeping herself out of trouble, but she'd succeeded in saving Sasuke's family. And for that she was glad. Maybe she could have a chance of saving Kakashi's friend — if he wasn't too far gone. At the very least, she needed to save herself and their unborn child. She was not going to lose this one.
She didn't know much about Kisame other than there were several times he and Itachi could have taken Naruto to extract the nine-tails and yet they did not. Sure Itachi had been a spy, but what was Kisame's excuse?
"What's up North?" Sakura asked. Earth and Wind countries were north of Fire, assuming they were on the continent, or even the planet. "I can't believe he saved Danzo."
Kisame shrugged. "Soldiers are soldiers. If you can't have quality, then you go for quantity. Danzo had a lot of little followers."
"He was covered in stolen Sharingan eyes," Sakura pointed out.
"Waste not. And we're going to Sand. Boss has his sight set on another promising recruit. Try not to fuck this up, blondie," Kisame warned. "Or he might not care if you're in the family way." He glanced over his shoulder and then turned back to her, his expression serious. "And there ain't nothing I can do to stop him if he decides that. So, don't get any ideas that you and I are buddies — because we're not," he sneered.
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A/N: I was thrilled with the feedback on the previous chapter. This arc is going to be a bit of a wild and crazy ride. My favorite Akatsuki is Itachi of course. However, ranked after him are Kisame and Sasori (which they are now going to be prominent participants in this next arc). I really enjoy the stories where Sasori didn't convert his body into a puppet because he is devious and brilliant.
So, for the Itachi/Izumi fans, since KakaSaku are long-distance at the moment, I'm going to be writing some sweet puppy love for them in a few chapters.