Obito-Sensei Chapter 93

Will Bring Everything Crashing Down

When they arrived in the Land of Iron, the first thing Sakura noticed was the cold.

Even though it was closer to summer than spring, the country was mountainous and the ground was still covered in slush, snow that had constantly melted and refrozen again and again under the relentless beat of the sun. It made traversal slippery as Team Seven and their co-conspirators slid down ravines and skated on half-frozen hills, careful to always move silently. Even far from the Mountain Fortress, samurai patrolled the country diligently, and they avoided several groups of them as they followed the Hokage's trail thanks to Hinata's sight.

There were few words spared. At this point, there was not much for any of them to say. It was only when they climbed higher into the mountains, tracking along cliffs that led down into deep rivers, that Hinata came to a stop and spoke.

"I see it," she said, and the group coalesced. Itachi Uchiha stayed on the outside; he had been watching Obito warily for the whole journey, moving like a skittish rabbit instead of the monstrously dangerous man he was.

'More than a little pathetic.'

"Lay it out for us, Hinata," Obito said. Right now, he was like her, Sakura thought. Focused; no energy to spare for nervousness. Her heart was beating slowly, filling her with calm determination.

There was no room for hesitation, and even less for mistakes.

Hinata nodded, bent down, and spent the next several minutes drawing in the snow and dirt with a kunai. As she drew, she spoke, concisely describing everything under her eyes purview.

'Could she be any more useful? You have incredible allies.'

Sakura ignored her thoughts, even if they were correct, and focused on Hinata, absorbing everything she said.

"We're currently six miles away," Hinata said, biting her lip as she continued to sketch. Everyone crouched down or leaned in to better observe, even Itachi. "There are samurai patrols rotating through the mountains, but they should be easy to avoid. The Mountain Fortress can't be missed: it's been carved out of the mountains themselves, like a crater. There are underground passages, but they're far more heavily patrolled; it's surrounded by three concentric walls, each about sixty feet tall. Covered as well, of course."

She breathed in, settling her nerves. Sakura watched carefully, looking for a trace of doubt. No matter how useful Hinata was, if she couldn't be relied on fully, she'd have to be left behind.

"The Fortress itself is a pyramid. Half of it is above ground; the rest below." She sketched out a triangle, drawing lines cleanly through it. "There are ten levels: they're not identical in size. Each floor varies from ten to eighty feet tall. The Cannon…"
"It's there?" Itachi asked calmly, and Hinata nodded.

"It's been mounted on top of the fortress," she said. "It's aiming straight up. From the chakra present in it, I have to assume it's charged." Her brow furrowed. "There are rods piercing it. From what I saw in Lightning, I believe they carry Nagato's chakra."

"Are they marked?" Obito asked, and once more Hinata nodded.

"With a formula I don't recognize," she confirmed.

"Hiraishin markers," Obito said, his face twisting into a sneer. "So he can reach the Cannon in an instant." He untied his hitai-ate, and then looked at Sakura.

She raised an eyebrow.

'Too weak to finish it?'

"Even a second, sensei," she said, and he nodded, finally cutting through the symbol of the Leaf.

"Even a second," he agreed, putting the headband back on. Obito finishing the job provided the push needed for everyone to follow through. Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Mikoto all made the same mark, defacing the symbol of the Leaf. Only Itachi did not bother; after all, he was already an infamous rogue.

"There are other rods," Hinata continued, somehow looking older with her marred headband. "In the main meeting chamber, and I believe down below. The main chamber is near the center of the pyramid, on the sixth level. It is one of the largest." Her eyes narrowed. "The Hokage is about to arrive, but two are already there. Going by their mark, I believe they are the Tsuchikage and Mizukage."

"And Nagato and Konan?" Sakura pressed.

"They are there, and Jiraiya of the Sannin too," Hinata said, sounding faintly surprised. "The chamber has a huge table for the meeting; there are banners for each of the Villages hanging… except for Cloud. There are samurai too. One's quite a bit older than the rest. He's speaking with Nagato now." Hinata's lips pressed into a line. "He's not happy."

"Can't imagine why," Obito said flatly. If he was surprised Jiraiya was there, he didn't show it. The Toad Sage could be an ally or an enemy, Sakura thought.

'He's helped you before; perhaps he could be turned to that again.'

"Honor guards for all of them are present as well," Hinata continued, cataloging everything with impressive efficiency as her hands continued to sketch out the Fortress. "Two women for the Tsuchikage, a man and a woman for the Mizukage. Nagato and Konan… there are two, younger, our age or just a bit older. One looks like your mother, Naruto. Red hair, red eyes. Her chakra is…"

"Karin," Naruto said, suddenly very serious. "She's a sensor, the best I've ever seen. Has she picked up on us?"

"I don't believe so. The other is a boy, orange hair. His chakra is volatile."
Sakura looked around, and both Naruto and Sasuke shrugged. She shrugged back. It didn't really matter, after all. Even if they were shinobi of Rain, if they got in her way, she'd cut them down.

"What about the Jinchuriki?" Naruto asked. "My mom?"

"Your mother and the Hokage are being met at the gates," Hinata said, and they all looked west, as if they could see what she could see. All except Sakura, who kept staring at the picture Hinata had drawn, mind moving a mile a minute. "I do not see any other Jinchuriki… though I believe at this point they should all be present?" She looked around for confirmation, and Mikoto nodded with a grim look.

"If Cloud has not been invited and Sand has not yet arrived, then yes," she should. "Kushina should be the last."

"Then watch her," Sakura commanded, and Hinata gave a surprised nod. "We need to know where they're all being kept."

"What if they're being executed right away?" Naruto asked quietly, and Sakura shook her head once, hard.

"He'll kill them all at the same time," she said, not caring how Naruto's face was stricken by the truthful words. "Otherwise, one of the village's could have the advantage, even for a second."

'And Nagato couldn't have that, could he?'

"And Nagato couldn't have that," she said. "Everything has to be fair: the Jinchuriki, and the Cannon, all at once. That'll be what he's planning."

She grinned. "So watch Kushina, Hinata. Find out where they put her. Then, we'll know our next move."

###

When they reached the break in the hall, the reality of the situation crashed over Kushina all at once.

She'd accepted her death, she was pretty sure. But there was a difference between that and being at the literal crossroad, y'know? She stopped, looking back at Minato, Rin, and Gai, finding herself at a loss for words.

"Kushina," Minato said quietly. He was just as stuck as her. Seeing her husband looking so hopeless should have made Kushina feel the same, but for some reason it encouraged her to act the opposite.

"We did good, Minato," she said, leaning in and giving him a kiss. A last kiss, she realized. Her arms were bound at her sides, else she would have wrapped him up in a spine-shattering hug. He took it like a statue, kissing her back but only barely. When she drew back, she breathed out and mustered up a grin. "Good luck. I love you."

Then she took a deep breath, turned, and followed the samurai escort into the depths of the mountain, leaving her husband and the life they'd built together behind.

The corridor twisted, turned, turned into stairs, again and again. They dropped several hundred feet, and all the while Kushina didn't have any company but for several samurai who were completely unreadable beneath their full armor and the demon in her head.

COWARDLY WRETCH! RELEASE ME THIS INSTANT!

It wasn't happening. After all, letting the Kyuubi out would be a betrayal, one that could result in Konoha being obliterated. Against the threat of that, of Naruto's death, her own death and the death of the Kyuubi couldn't hold a candle.

THIS IS WHY THERE WAS NO TRUST TO BE FOUND! The demon raged. WHY YOUR SHOW OF FAITH WAS EMPTY! THIS IS HOW ALL HUMANS ACT! BOLD UNTIL THEY ARE PRESSED; PRINCIPLED UNTIL THERE IS DANGER! FILTH! SCUM! WHEN THEY FAIL TO KILL ME I WILL TEAR YOUR FAMILY TO SHREDS!

I gave you your chance! If it weren't for the thick sealing cloth she was bound in, so much that she couldn't move her arms and could only stumble forward like a drunk drying rack, the Bijuu would have burst out of her instantly. The cloth stung and bit at her chakra system like a hundred hornets, but Kushina was not too concerned; after all, she'd be dead soon.

I did everything I could. I spoke with you, I left the spiral seal for you; I tried to make every deal I could think of. You're the one who would not reach out! This is your fault!
BECAUSE I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!

Even now, you can't consider compromise, Kurama, Kushina thought, finally allowing a bit of bitterness to sink in. It's the ultimate prisoner's dilemma: we're both gonna die because of your stubbornness. The idea of just giving me control so this didn't have to happen… you've spent so long as a force of destruction that cooperation doesn't even make sense to you anymore, huh?

Kurama kept screaming, but Kushina had gotten very good at shutting him out. She didn't bother to respond as they trudged closer to her fate. What more was there to say? She'd tried her best, and failed; there wasn't anything more shinobi in the world than that.
Down, down, down, until the samurai began to slow as they reached their destination. Kushina finally saw what would be, if not her final resting place, her prison until then.

It wasn't what she had expected.

The hall opened up into a vast chamber, the ceiling perhaps forty feet tall and the walls quite distant. Before her, there was a shoji, a door made of rice paper propped up in the middle of the chamber and leading into a hall of them. Dim light spilled through the paper, even though the only illumination in the chamber were distant, flickering fluorescents.

"Inside," one of the samurai grunted, gesturing to the open door, and Kushina stepped inside. There were black rods studding the hall, she noticed, arranged in a pattern that eluded her, but her attention was drawn away from them as the door closed behind her, leaving her alone.

Kurama's voice suddenly vanished.

Kushina blinked and stumbled forward, an infinite weight inexplicably released from her. The Bijuu had been shut away, suppressed like the flick of a light switch. It was still there, still alive in her gut, but had no hold over her, even though her seal was shattered.

She wandered forward, experimentally pressing as the shoji. Hard as steel, and unmoving. She traced her hand along the wall, leading herself down the hall and into what she shortly realized was a maze. The deeper she went, the quieter the space in her head grew; a supernatural peace stole over her, carried by the warm and sourceless light that infused the whole maze.

It was a marvelously complicated seal, Kushina thought, analyzing just for the joy of it. This maze was a prison and a place of stasis. Within, nothing was allowed to change, and chakra was suppressed to near non-existence. It had to be the work of the Rinnegan, given that its actual principles so thoroughly eluded her. Opening and closing the shoji gate gave the seal a release mechanism, increasing its active strength; the maze channeled chakra in particular patterns, like a jutsu formula on a large and formal scale.

Essentially, it was the spiral formulas the Uzumaki had mastered, but times a million.

Kushina found herself exploring, driven by her curiosity as she pulled aside door after door, finding some resistant and others pliant. She pushed towards the center of the maze, delighting in the workmanship of the seal. Even if it was meant to doom her, she couldn't help but admire Nagato's ingenuity. If this was what the Rinnegan made you capable of, she couldn't blame Jiraiya for being so enamored with it.

Eventually, she pushed a shoji aside and found that she wasn't alone.
It was a wide room filled with tatami, unusually decorated in patterns of the five elements. The center of the maze, for sure. There were people there, some sitting and staring at nothing in particular, others comatose, one suddenly watching her with wide, surprised eyes.

Kushina recognized them immediately; after all, knowing the Jinchuriki of other villages had been critical to her job. Gaara of the Desert, empty and cold. Yugito Nii, pacing with a furious look. Roshi and Han, both of Stone's Jinchuriki kneeling with their arms crossed and eyes closed. Utakata, lying face-down like he was dead. Killer Bee, cross-legged in the corner and looking at nothing.

And Fuu, who was the only one that stood and moved towards her.

"Hi." The girl from Waterfall managed a weak smile. "How's it going?"

"Hey," Kushina said, not sure what else there was to say. The Sanbi didn't have a Jinchuriki right now, it seemed: she noticed an ugly vessel in the corner, clay molded into a wailing infant, and frowned. "So this is everyone, then?"

"Think so," Fuu said quietly. "Are you Kushina?"

"That's me," Kushina said, giving the girl a smile. Seeing someone so young here, more than anything else, sent a trickle of doubt down her spine. Fuu was barely older than Naruto. In fact…

"Naruto told me about you," Fuu said, sitting down. Kushina did as well, feeling ridiculous in all the crimson cloth swamping her body. It wasn't necessary to wear anymore, but she didn't remove it: taking it off was equally pointless. "I was kinda hoping I wouldn't see you here."

"Oh?" Kushina asked, and while Fuu shrugged, it was Yugito Nii that spoke up. The blonde woman stopped her pacing, looking over with a sneer.

"If anyone would have refused the Summit, it would have been the Hokage," she grunted. "But if you're here, it means everyone has capitulated to Rain. There's no hope for any of us." She kicked a tatami mat, but it didn't even budge; even that sort of minor violence was impossible here.

"Quiet, would you?" Han said, not opening his eyes. The Stone ninja was huge, seven-foot and then some, and even sitting he seemed the same size as Fuu and Yugito. "I would prefer to die in peace."

"Don't count on it, you big bastard," Yugito snarled. "I don't think any of us will be going peacefully."

"Not with you here," Han grumbled, ignoring Yugito glaring daggers at him. Kushina couldn't help a snort of amusement, and Fuu smiled at her.

"Sorta what she said, yeah," she admitted, leaning in. "Is Naruto okay? And Sasuke and Sakura? I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to them. Not really."

"They're okay," Kushina said, remembering how distant her son had been the day before. He had said goodbye to her, but it had felt half-hearted. He hadn't yet accepted what was happening; it would probably take him a long time. "As okay as they can be."

"That's good." Fuu shifted, searching for words. "They told me a little about you when we were in the Land of Frost. It made me want to meet you, but now that we're both here… I dunno what to say."

"I know the feeling," Kushina said warmly. "You left a huge impression on Naruto, even back when he'd known you for a single day. Thank you for being friends with my son."
Fuu's smile grew more certain. "He was my first!" she said, but the smile soured. "Which makes it even suckier I can't say goodbye. But I guess that's how it goes for people like us, right?"

"Always has," Kushina said, and they lapsed into silence. Fuu spent another minute pondering, shifting from thigh to thigh as she rocked back and forth, eventually, she nodded, making a decision, and stuck her fist out.

"You're a strong ninja, right?" she said. Kushina regarded the proffered fist with a bemused look.

"Stronger than most," she said, very humbly, and Fuu giggled.

"Prove it then," she said, waggling her hand. "We might only get to know each other for a little bit, but I wanna see if you're like Naruto."
"Like Naruto?" Kushina said, gingerly removing her arm from the wrap. It half-hung off of her, revealing her right side. Fuu nodded emphatically.

"Him and Sasuke and Sakura. We did this in Frost; it made me understand them a little better."

Seeing no harm in it, Kushina firmly clashed knuckles with Fuu.

An electric shock ran the length of both their bodies. The seal they were surrounded by dampened all chakra, but Kushina nonetheless felt a tremendous impact as their energy met and switched, rushing up one another's arms with enough force to knock their hands away from one another.

Jinchuriki and Jinchuriki, Kushina understood in a split second, and something more than that besides. She and Fuu were assailed by countless phantom sensations, seeing and hearing things long passed overlapping in a blur of feelings that squeezed tears from both their eyes.

istherelikeaspecialhandshakeorsomething
yourmommustbeamazingtoholdit
i'mreallygladimetyouguys
yeahitrustyoukonan
you'reawifeamotherifyoudied
loveisn'tapanacea
nothingis
butitgivespeoplestrength
AND I'M STILL GONNA TRY

"What?" Fuu choked, falling back. Yugito Nii watched with interest, ceasing her pacing and watching the both of them. Kushina took a shuddering breath, her and Fuu's words ricocheting around her head and chipping away at her resolve.
"Fuu," Kushina whispered, feeling the younger woman's heart in her hands. They were at an inflection point, a crossroad that extended infinitely far into the future. The responsible, shinobi thing to do would be to crush Fuu's heart. Break her again, leave her to wait with the rest of them.

But overwhelmed by what she had just experienced, Kushina couldn't bring herself to do it.

"You've made a mistake," she said frankly, and Fuu stared at her, tears still leaking from her eyes.

"You're not like me," Kushina continued, potentially dooming everyone she knew with her honesty. On the ground, Utakata stirred, shifting his head to watch them from the floor. Yugito Nii was still watching, along with Han and Rōshi. Only Gaara and Killer Bee remained unmoving, essentially unconscious.

Kushina swallowed.

"You're not ready to die yet."

###

Snow started to drift down. Despite blue skies being visible in the distance, the mountains around the Fortress itself were blanketed in wet, slushy snow that half-melted as soon as it landed, a gorgeous shower that tickled her nose.

Sakura barely noticed it. There was no room in her head for anything but planning.

"The tenth level makes sense," Obito said, pacing. "So in that case… we'll have to switch things up a little." He shook his head. "Nagato would be stupid not to have marks down there, even if we can't see them right now thanks to that barrier. That means all of us going straight for the Jinchuriki will just drop him on top of us. We need to split his attention beforehand."

"He can't teleport instantly, right? Not like Dad?" Naruto asked, and Obito nodded.

"He needs to make hand signs. He surprised me last time, but now that I know them… I think I could stop him," he confirmed, and Sakura snapped her fingers.

"Three teams," she said, everything already clicking together in her head, and Obito raised an eyebrow. Everyone else looked to her; Sakura's heart didn't skip a beat.

"Sensei, you can get the closest with the Kamui without alerting Karin," she said, laying everything out as efficiently as possible. "You confront Nagato and the others, and keep him distracted. Don't let him teleport." Obito nodded, accepting the most dangerous job in existence without hesitation, just as Sakura had known he would. He was the most powerful of them all, and it wasn't close: he was surely the only one that could hope to face Nagato.

Sakura set her pack down and started pulling short-range headsets around, passing them around; everyone affixed them without a word in edgewise. "Sensei, don't take one of these. You'll want to appear alone, and you won't need to communicate anyway. You'll be busy. Mikoto, you'll use the Benzaiten to get to the Jinchuriki without getting detected, and free Kushina and Fuu to start. You'll have to hypnotize the Kyuubi."

"I'll go with her," Itachi said, and Sakura shot him a sharp look. "I'm quite proficient at masking my chakra," he continued pleasantly. "It will probably not be as efficient as her Benzaiten, but it should keep me hidden from Karin."

"Alright." Sakura accepted it. She had a vague sense that Itachi was underselling his abilities, but couldn't pinpoint the source: she just knew that he was being truthful. Sasuke looked uncomfortable, but she didn't care. "Mikoto and Itachi for the Jinchuriki then. Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, and I will stay at a distance, just outside Karin's range, and move in if either group encounters complications."

Sakura looked around at her teammates, receiving nods. Good. "Sasuke, you'll go to help with the Jinchuriki," she continued. "Naruto and Hinata, we'll go together. The Cannon will be our first priority; everything else depends on how sensei, Mikoto, and Itachi do. Good?"
To her satisfaction, everyone nodded, some with surprised expressions. Naruto was practically glowing with admiration.

'He's so cute.'

"The other Kage are entering," Hinata said, her focus shifting. "Everyone has arrived now."
"Just as well," Sakura said. "Anything else before we go?"

"If we're going, then it's time I do my thing," Naruto said, and Sakura blinked before remembering what he was talking about.

"Right," she said, already removing her hoodie and top. She paused halfway, everyone watching her, and gestured for them to do the same thing. "You can do all of us, right?"
"I think so. I'll let you know if it doesn't work," Naruto said, unfurling a scroll, a brush, and an inkwell from his pack. He tested the brush on the scroll and nodded, satisfied, running through the same formula several times. Freezing slush landed on Sakura's bare shoulders, but she didn't flinch; the rest of the team was removing their shirts and jackets as well.

"It'll have to be on your stomach," Naruto said, blushing as he approached. Sakura nodded, standing ramrod straight as Naruto set to work. "That's where chakra gets shaped, obviously, so it's most efficient there," he muttered to himself, having difficulty looking at her abs for whatever reason. The ink was cold, just as much as the snow, but once more Sakura did not flinch. She folded her arms, patiently waiting and staying stock still as Naruto placed the seal on her stomach.

"Alright," he said after a minute, standing back and looking over his handiwork. His blush wasn't getting any lighter. He made nine hand signs with slow deliberation, brow furrowed with concentration.

"Kai," he hissed, and the seal lit with orange light for a moment, painlessly searing itself into Sakura's skin. She poked at it, finding the ink dry, and pulled her Akatsuki hoodie back on, giving Naruto a nod and a smile.

"Set," she said, and he beamed at her. "You said it's automatically activated?"

"Yeah," he said, getting to work on Sasuke. "The first time any of you get badly hurt," he said, slightly raising his voice so everyone could clearly hear him, "it should kick in." His tone grew a bit less cheerful. "But, just so you know… it'll shorten your life. Just a little. But if it needs to be activated, it'll probably be worth it."

"It's incredible work, Naruto," Obito said sincerely, and Naruto gave him a brief grin before refocusing on Sasuke. "I'm sure Kabuto would be honored."

"Well," Naruto said, and didn't finish the sentence until he was done with Sasuke. "We'll see."

It took several minutes for Naruto to finish, but when he was done every member of the team was marked with his brand new technique. Sakura watched the whole thing with admiration stirring deep in her chest.

'He's brilliant. You could not ask for someone better by your side.'

"Alright," Naruto said, a streak of ink across his cheek. He blew out a breath, sweating: he'd already used a lot of chakra solidifying the seals, but he was recovering quickly. "Anything else?"

"Just one thing," Obito said, stepping forward. "Before I go." He looked over all of them, his gaze particularly lingering on his students. Sakura shifted from foot to foot; she was ready to go. In just moments, everything would start and then it would never stop.

"I'm proud of you all," Obito said simply. "No matter what happens, you've all become incredible people. I wish I could claim you for myself, but we all know I haven't been a perfect teacher." He grinned. "It will be an honor to fight beside you here. I know you'll do your best, but I'll leave you with something Naruto's other teacher gave me."

His grin stayed, but his eyes were dead serious. "Do better than your best."

"Good luck, sensei," Naruto said, and Sasuke echoed the same.

"You have this," Sakura said, perhaps demanded, and Obito smiled wryly.

"Good luck, all of you," he said, and then he swirled out of existence, carried towards the Summit by his boundless will.

"Alright," Sakura said, finding herself grinning. Mikoto and Itachi were already moving; Sasuke hugged his mother, and hesitantly stopped before his brother. Barely slowing down, Itachi reached out with a gentle grin and poked his younger brother in the forehead, leaving Sasuke frozen as his family flitted into the mountains.

Despite the danger, despite the uncertainty, despite the infinitely terrible cost of failure, Sakura was excited. Her heart picked up, a steady thrill rushing through her.

"Let's go," she said, and Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata nodded, all carrying the same determined look. She didn't say the words that were echoing through her head, but she was sure that they could all see them in her eyes.

'It ends today.'