1,090Author's Before Notes
Boom! Two chapters in a month :)! (Read chapter 23 in case anyone missed it. I replaced the announcement with a chapter)
Thanks imacow for editing and looking through the story and suggestions :).
Thanks for Kakashi Cartman and Amitrea for beta reading and suggestions~
This chapter is a bit slower, and was originally going to be longer, but due to suggestions from my above peeps, I moved the last scene I had for this chapter and moved it to chapter 25.
Chapter 25 is going to be very long... I'm still working on it, but yah, hopefully I have that chapter ready next week.
To the Guest who left tons of comments through the chapters, I really enjoyed reading each one : ).
And yeah, I am making Kushina a bad ass cause honestly, I hate how majority of the females in Naruto just become boring house wives... Like really Kishimoto?
Chapter 24
Naruto rubbed his eyes as he woke up, slowly sitting up, sore and cold. His stomach let out a small groan, but he ignored it, his tired eyes settling on the masked man laying a couple of feet away from him, his back to him.
They were deep in the forest with the sun shining brightly over them, the trees slightly giving the two shade.
The boy eyed the masked man for a few seconds before he got up, putting his hands together into a hand sign, and created around 20 clones of himself.
Without being told what to do, two of the clones jumped on the tree closest to Obito and sat on the tree branch while the other 18 ran into a certain direction of the forest.
Satisfied where all his clones went, the boy secured his sword behind his back, gave one last glance at the masked man who seemed to be barely breathing before running in the opposite direction that his clones went.
The boy ran for a few miles before he arrived at a decent-sized village.
He entered the village while ignoring everyone that passed him. Some did glance at him but disregarded him as soon as they recognized him from the prior days. Others would give him strange looks when they noticed him walking alone with the sword strapped behind his back. But Naruto assumed no one wanted to bother him because they probably believed he was just a dumb kid playing ninja. Maybe they thought his sword wasn't even real.
The boy unconsciously scratched his head while he walked. His whole body was extremely itchy, craving to have a nice warm wash with soap to get rid of all the dirt and discomfort.
He eyed certain people around him, taking in their looks, their clothes, and noticing a few food stands on the streets. The moment he caught a glimpse of a mom or dad walking with one of their children he would look away.
Watching a child with their parents made his chest hurt.
He thought of his uncle when he saw parents with their children. He then would think about the mom he had never met before.
The last act his uncle wanted to do before he died was to take him back to his mom…and because of that, he couldn't stop thinking about going off and looking for her himself. It wasn't like Obito had any plans to reunite him with his mother.
After a while of roaming around the village, he made his way behind a building. He then created another shadow clone of himself, letting him wander off into the village before putting his hands together to transform into an adult that looked similar to one he had seen in the streets. He made sure the illusion wore clothes that fit what someone in the village would wear.
Once he looked himself over and approved of his new persona, he made his way to one of the food stands, where a man was being handed a box stuffed with fresh noodles. The boy counted to three before he dashed forward, snagging the box from the guy's hands and ran out of there, ignoring the man's angry yelling and the witnesses who simply watched in shock.
Naruto ran back into the forest, but made sure he left from a different direction that he originally came from. His clone would watch from afar from the street, making sure Naruto was in the clear, before he vanished.
Once the boy was far away from the village, he sat behind a tree, breaking out of his transformation and began devouring his meal of the day.
He closed his eyes, savoring every bite, and at the same time amused and satisfied that he was able to pull the same stunt for the third time the past week straight.
In the past week the boy has come to the village alone, ever since Obito laid on the ground, unable to move. He didn't want to steal from anyone from the village the first time, but he had no choice. He had no money, and he just didn't seem capable of interacting with any of the strangers. Back in the day if one of the White Zetsu's took the boy to a village out for a treat, the White Zetsu clone would always be the one to interact with the adults. Naruto was always told not to talk to any strangers so he would just keep his mouth shut and eat whatever was served to him.
But now, the boy was alone, and the only solution he could think of was, well, to steal food. He had to survive somehow after all.
The first time he stole, he made sure he had taken someone's appearance from the village. He thought it went well, but after coming back to the village later in the day people did look at him suspiciously, so he made sure to make a clone of himself the second time he visited, letting him wander around while the stunt took place. It seemed like Naruto's plan helped him from getting people off his back after that.
Naruto finished his breakfast and sat there for a while, staring up at how tall the trees were with a sad smile on his face. He imagined that his uncle would be so proud of him for his genius antics. His uncle always told him to think smart if he wanted to be a ninja, just like Obito.
The boy frowned at the thought of Obito.
Ever since the boy's stunt a month ago, to try to save the old man from the terrible shinobi, Obito was mad. So mad that he completely ignored the boy, as if wasting his breath on him was a huge burden. At first, it hurt that Obito wouldn't even look in his direction. It hurt that the masked man didn't even care for the boy's shame towards the fact that he couldn't save the old man. Shame for now adding new enemies to their list...
The boy will admit, he cried the first few nights and just followed the masked man silently, looking at the ground mostly. When Obito's movements slowed down, the boy got worried and moved to help him. He asked the masked man what was wrong, what could he do to help, but of course all he got was the cold shoulder.
It was strange honestly, to watch Obito go from being a red-eyed dangerous man that tried to kill him while his uncle was alive, to a man who couldn't move without letting out shaky breaths as his body trembled at any movement. The past week, he spent most of his time either asleep for long hours of the day or laying on the ground saying nothing. The poison was still in the man's system, Naruto guessed. It was strange because while Naruto watched, he grew less scared of the man, less hurt that he was ignored by him, less...worried for the man's suffering.
Honestly...the boy was tired of being sad... He was tired of crying... All he could feel at the masked man was...
Anger.
Yes, he was mad alright...
He was mad at the way the masked man has treated him since he could remember, as if he was trash. Naruto couldn't help but ask himself why did the masked man steal him from his parents if he was just going to mistreat him? The only good thing that came out from being taken from his parents was his uncle Tobi...Tobi's love was...something Naruto had cherished so much...
Yet...
Obito was one of the reasons his uncle died...
The shinobi that attacked his home were after Obito's head, from what Naruto saw.
Yet the one who died was his uncle and many of the White Zetsu clones...It was all Obito's fault.
His uncle didn't have to die...
Obito didn't deserve Tobi's sacrifice.
Naruto and everyone at that cave were so happy without Obito. He could hardly remember a time when he was so sad back when his uncle was alive. Of course, he would get grounded at times for misbehaving and doing stupid stuff, but not once did he feel his heart ache so much.
Life was for sure almost perfect in the boy's eyes. And the masked man's arrival to the cave was nothing more but a curse. Obito's presence turned everything upside down quickly.
What made the boy so confused was the fact Tobi cared about Obito so much. He couldn't comprehend why his uncle sacrificed his life for someone so terrible like Obito.
Naruto wished that Tobi didn't jump in front of Obito like he did... He wished instead they had just run off together, away from the fight, and let...Obito die...
Naruto's thoughts paused, biting his lower lip as he felt sick to his stomach. He imagined, if his uncle was still alive, he would be disappointed in him and the dark thoughts that ran in his mind.
But honestly, who could blame the boy for disliking the man so much?
Naruto leaned against the tree with his eyes closed. He reminded himself why he had to stay with Obito. Why he needed to help the masked man succeed with the plan to bring a perfect world.
But for the past few days, Naruto couldn't help but ask himself if there were other ways he could bring his uncle back to life. His uncle always told him many things were possible to accomplish in the shinobi world.
So maybe… if there was another way to bring his uncle back, then he didn't need the masked man after all...
"Brother!" Sasuke ran with a grin right up to his brother who was sitting on his bed. The preteen had gauze wrapped around his head that was being removed by a nurse. He looked at his brother tiredly, but gave him a soft smile when the boy jumped on the bed and wrapped his tiny arms around him. "I'm glad you're okay..." Sasuke buried his face against his brother's chest. "I missed you so much..."
Itachi petted the little boy's head affectionately. The nurse excused herself with a bow before leaving the room.
"I missed you too, Sasuke," he said quietly.
"Sasuke, be careful with your brother," their mom scolded at the little boy, but still smiled at the scene.
"I'm not hurting him..." Sasuke said, muffled.
Itachi said nothing as he kept petting his brother's head.
"The doctor said you can go home today," Mikoto informed her older son. "But he also said you can stay a bit longer if you want," she assumed the Hokage wanted Itachi to have as much time as he wanted at the hospital with no free of charge for everything that has happened. Honestly, she thought it's the least he can do for them.
Itachi watched as his brother held him tightly, as if he was afraid that if he let go of Itachi, he would disappear.
"I want to go home tonight," Itachi said when he looked up at their mother. He didn't want to spend more time in the hospital.
"Are you sure?" Mikoto asked gently. Even though Itachi gave her a kind smile and followed up with a nod, she felt her heart clench. She could tell her son was trying so hard to lessen their worry over him. "Alright. I'll talk to the doctor then," she said before leaving the brothers alone in the room.
"Mom told me what happened..." Sasuke mumbled, slightly pulling away. "I'm sorry what happened to Shisui..." he looked up at Itachi hesitantly. His mother warned him not to bring anything up to Itachi so soon, but the boy couldn't help it. He wanted to be there for his brother.
And honestly, even for Sasuke it was surreal that Shisui had died. After all, the older Uchiha was very close to Itachi and they spent a lot of time together.
Itachi gave him a sad smile.
"She also told me about...the masked man," the younger boy said. "She said he's...very strong..." the boy looked down, with a frown. "He's an Uchiha… And a danger to the village...does that mean he wants to hurt us?"
Itachi hugged his brother, hating the fact that his little brother was now thinking about the mask man possibly laying a hand on them. His brother should be living a peaceful life, away from danger at least at this moment. He felt his heart clench when the image of Shisui's corpse covered in blood, with roots sticking out from his body, flashed in his mind.
Shisui... Itachi had loved the Uchiha as an older brother so much. He was compassionate and strong. Even though the boy was far from perfect and had his own sins, he was still the best of the Uchiha clan.
Losing Shisui left a hole in Itachi's heart. He had lost a brother and... the thought of the masked man coming after them later, and getting his hands on Sasuke made his heart boil.
A long distant bad memory came back into his mind. He remembered how he had lost a comrade, a friend...Tenma... A masked man had killed him by thrusting his arm right through the boy, killing him instantly.
The masked man that killed Tenma looked so similar to the masked man that killed Shisui. Both had to be the same man. At least, that's what he hypothesized.
If both masked men that killed two people that he knew were the same being, then, the masked man is a monster that was taking down people he cared about slowly.
Itachi hugged his little brother tightly.
"Don't worry Sasuke..." Itachi placed his head on top of the boy's head. "I won't let him hurt you..." he promised quietly.
The boy knew he had to do all in his power to make sure he kept his brother safe. He'LL train ten times harder than ever before. He'll train until he passed out from exhaustion. He wasn't going to let the masked man kill anyone that he cares about ever again.
He also started to think, even though he didn't want to see his brother in future battles, that he might have to train his brother as well. He didn't want Sasuke to be left so defenseless if things did get bad after all...
The sun was on its way to rest for the day, and the blonde boy was jolted awake. He sat up as he felt the majority of his clones' memories, that he had sent away to a certain direction in the forest, rushed into his mind.
He grinned to himself at the memories he obtained but then was shocked at what time it was based on the sun's position in the sky.
Did he really take such a long nap?
He jumped to his feet, grabbed his garbage so he could throw it away later in the village and ran through the forest to return where he had left the masked man. He hoped none of the rogue shinobi had found the man and hurt him. Then again, the two clones that he had left to watch over the masked man haven't returned to him, so he wasn't too worried.
He slowed down to a stop to see Obito was in a sitting position, his back leaning against a tree, legs spread out, making the boy sigh in relief. The man's head was slightly bowed, but slowly he looked up at the boy.
The two clones that were on the tree branch vanished when the original one returned.
Obito noticed the noodle box in the boy's hand. His heart, that was aching and racing from the poison, boiled.
"You're exposing us..." he hissed through his clenched teeth, trying his best to endure the fiery pain he was under. "Did Tobi not teach you anything?"
Naruto simply gave the masked man a blank stare.
Of course...the moment the masked man decides to finally talk to him again was just to lash out at him.
"Or perhaps he did, but he wasted his time on you," Obito let out, his breathing was a bit rough as his anger kept rising. The constant pain, the fatigue, and the lack of responsiveness from his body was driving him nuts. He felt as if he was trapped, he was suffocating.
He couldn't understand why White Zetsu hasn't shown up yet. The creature should have returned to them by now. He was an easy target for anyone to take advantage of at this moment. There was no way he could defend himself from anyone. And the boy gathering himself attention was just making things worse.
Why couldn't the boy think with his head for once and stay put?!
"My uncle...didn't waste his time on me..." Naruto muttered under his breath; eyes downcast.
Obito narrowed his eyes at the boy before the boy's head shut up, glaring at him
"He wasted it on you!" Naruto screamed with all his might.
Obito was caught off guard from the outburst. He stared at the boy who took a bold step towards him.
"My uncle, he said you were the hero to the world," the boy said, hands turning into shaky fists. "The one who would fix everyone's problems. Bring peace for all of us. That's what he said, but...if you were a real hero then you would have helped me save the old man." He ignored the way the masked man's shoulders tensed. "You could have saved him. You were strong enough, but you let that old man die. You just stood there without caring while I tried so hard to save him. You let him die. You let me get hurt." Naruto wiped his eyes with frustration when a few tears escaped. "You stole me from my parents. You tried to kill me. You let others hurt me and you're are always so mean to me. You're not a hero!" The boy yelled. "You're a villain!"
Obito felt his anger rise again, he wanted to smack the boy to the ground, to end his tantrum, but his body did not cooperate.
"My uncle and I were happy before you came and ruined it all!" Naruto screamed. "You don't fix people's problems! You're the cause of them!" He threw the empty noodle box at the man's head. Obito sat there, frozen in place by the boy's words.
The boy didn't care if what he did just now was wrong. He had grown tired of everything.
"It's true, my uncle might have lied to me, but he was going to return me to my mom," the boy said. "My uncle told me she wants me back. He wanted me to go back to my family even though it hurt him a lot."
Obito stared at the boy, recalling how Tobi was stubborn to keep the boy when he was baby. Tobi was selfish, there was no way the creature was going to return the boy back to Konoha.
"I am not worthless," Naruto mumbled. "I'm still a kid. I'm growing and learning. It's okay for me to fail many times, no one is perfect, that is what my Uncle told me many times," he looked away for a moment, his heart beating so fast against his chest. He tried to slow it down a bit before pointing at the man's frail body. "But you...you can't even move anymore," he said. "How can you help me bring my uncle back when you can't even get up?"
Obito clenched his teeth. The boy was crossing the line with him.
"You're not a hero," Naruto said coldly. "You're a terrible man and I'm not afraid of you anymore." He turned his back to the masked man. "I'm going to return to my mom, just like my uncle wanted me to," he said. "And no... I haven't forgotten about my uncle..." The boy of course couldn't forget his uncle. He had to bring him back. He also thought that maybe there was a possibility that his mom would help him. "I'm going to find a way to bring him back..." The boy decided before sending a glare to the man over his shoulder. "I don't need you."
Obito was dead silent, staring at the child without much thought nor emotion in his mind. He had felt something deep inside hurt in his chest, not caused by the poison as the pain was different from the damage the poison was causing to his body. This particular pain was so familiar to him, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. But he did his best not to dwell on it much.
"Then go." He managed, with all he could, in a cold steady voice.
Naruto continued to glare at him. They were both completely quiet for a moment. All they could hear around them was the cold breeze of the wind.
Then the boy took off, leaving Obito behind.
The masked man stared at the boy as he vanished into the deep depths of the forest.
"You don't fix people's problems! You're the cause of them!"
Obito shut his eyes, leaning against the tree as he took a shaky breath of air, trying his best to let his mind just go black.
He tried to ignore how cold his body was now.
He tried to ignore how vulnerable he was for any attacks.
He tried to ignore how the foreign pain in his heart continued to ache as he just sat there, unable to move.
After Author's Notes
So yeah, Naruto for sure decided he had enough with Obito...
I wanted to cause some more drama between the two and give Naruto a bit more independence to make things well, realistic and give some growth to some charcs.
Anyways, please leave your thoughts/comments/reviews as I do enjoy reading them : ). Honestly, they are like gold nuggets for me, hahaha