Chapter 2
Staying with Obito-nii was amazing. It was everything Naruto ever wanted. He never hit him, he never looked at him with those eyes, he always spent time with him and listened to him. He had a family. Even if there was a big bad fox in his tummy, he wasn't a monster. He wasn't alone. No one threw him out of shops and wrote mean things on his walls anymore. There were no sensei's who ignored him in class or sent him out before even starting the lecture. No one who stole his clothes and spoiled his food while he wasn't at home. Obito-nii even bought him Mr Ukki and his favourite nightcap from his home one day. No, not his home. The place he stayed at before. It was never home, just a house.
He stayed with Obito-nii for around six months, the older was kinda funny with his face sometimes but he was so cool. The strongest. He even taught him how to read and write. Naruto could almost differentiate between all sorts of kanji by now. He was so happy. After the initial period where the Uchiha stayed with him almost all the time, they went to stay in a place called Snowy village. Or it was something like that anyway. Naruto wasn't too concerned with where they were going till the time he wasn't alone.
"Naru-chan, I have to go to work okay? I'll be back in the evening,?" Obito told the little boy as he entered the house while holding his hand. Naruto, who was looking at the new surroundings curiously turned to face him as he spoke, a scowl on his face. In the past few months, he'd gained weight and shot up in height. A visit to the doctor confirmed that he'd never be able to grow as tall as he could've been due to the food neglect in his former years, but he was now as healthy as a child should be.
Obito felt himself get angry every time he thought about the fact that Konoha had already managed to leave such a lasting impact on his life, something that they'd never be able to change.
It wasn't very easy for him either, to take care of a child all by himself when he'd been living in seclusion for so many years. Almost every day he questioned himself whether he was fit to do so, to take care of another person. But there'd be times when he went to wake Naruto up and the boy flinched every time before seeing who it was. When Naruto marvelled at the taste of vegetables because all the one's he'd had before were 'yucky.' They were probably soiled. When on so many days he'd tear up and say things like, 'You're still here', 'You didn't leave?'
When he had been so confused when Obito praised him for reading something correctly and asked if he didn't think he was a dumb waste of space.
Obito had cried that night. Because this was Kushina's son, Minato-sensei's son, and the village who they loved and died for did this to their legacy. He'd cried so many times in those six months. Kakashi would probably call him a crybaby. He told Naruto stories of his genin days, of Kushina bringing them lunch, him being late, Minato being kind and patient, Rin always taking care of everyone, he didn't talk about Kakashi. What would he say? That he killed his teammate he swore he'd protect.
"Don't go," he said while gripping his hand.
Now Obito didn't really have to leave himself, he could use Kamui to take care of his business when Naruto was sleeping or busy, or he could send a clone to do his job, but he didn't want the other boy to be completely dependant on him. He was a child, he deserved to go out and interact with others. He wouldn't push him to do that just yet, knowing how uncomfortable Naruto tended to be around new people, but hopefully one day he'll make friends. Also, he was going to Konoha today, and didn't want to take any chances.
"But I'll be back in the evening, before it's dark. I'll bring you Ichiraku's ramen!" he insisted and Naruto shut up for a second and made a contemplating face. Adorable. He then shook his head and glared up at him, "No, I want Obito-nii," he said and this time Obito almost caved. Because this was an Uzumaki choosing him over his favourite ramen.
"Fine, fine. Let's make a deal. I'll come back before sunset with ramen for dinner and tomorrow's lunch. And you can paint your room while I'm away. "
"REALLY?" he yelled in excitement, it'd been so long since he painted on other people's walls. Obito sighed but nodded. He'd bought colouring books, paints, colours, everything, but Naruto preferred to use them on the walls rather than paper. He wasn't an idiot, the paint he'd bought was child-safe. So he guessed till the time it was in his own room, Naruto could do what he liked.
"Okay, I'm gonna make it all orange dattebayo,"
"I'm sure you will," he shook his head in amusement. "I'll get going now, see you soon Naru-chan," he said and put on his cloak before waving at the boy and exiting the house. And once more he put on his mask, now it was just Tobi.
There was one clone left behind, hidden, to check on Naruto and dispel itself in case of any emergency. This was the first time he was leaving the child alone, of course, he'd leave a clone.
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The Saindaime was an old, old, man. He was too old to be in this position, and he wasn't the only one who thought so. Everyone was quiet and polite yes, but they all thought it was time for him to pass on the hat. It had been sixth months since Naruto went missing, since Konoha lost its Jinchuriki. There had been an uproar in the village.
Danzo had once more questioned his authority to be the Hokage, being so lenient with the Jinchuriki that he managed to run away. The various clans were upset too, more so of losing the Yondaime's son than the vessel, but they understood the power balance in the shinobi world as well. Sarutobi was... well, as the boys only guardian, he was upset, because why would Naruto run away, from the village that he swore to lead one day? But he wasn't an idiot, he knew of the boy's treatment, he'd just thought that Naruto would be okay, after all, he was always bright and cheerful whenever they met. Leaving Konoha was unexpected.
And as the Hokage, he knew the full consequences of losing their Jinchuriki, Konoha was still weak from the Kyuubi attack, they couldn't afford to show more vulnerability. Which was the reason that while all teams going outside the village were asked to keep an eye out for him, he couldn't assign official search for him. The other's couldn't know that Konoha no longer had the Kyuubi.
There were other factors to count for as well, maybe the boy hadn't left, maybe he'd been taken. It could've been anytime, no one had noticed Naruto was missing for at least a few days, it was only when Kakashi returned from a mission and went to check on his sensei's son that he all became aware of it.
But nothing unusual was found.
No broken door or windows, no missing objects. The building was put in a restricted zone.
And then one day, a plant and a nightcap went missing from the home.
No ANBU caught a sight of who or what did it. No one knew what happened. They just vanished.
There was an investigation going on still, but with no leads.
The disappearance had caused another problem in the village. The Uchiha clan. Mikoto Uchiha had been insistent in adopting the boy, but had been denied. They couldn't let one clan get the favour of the Jinchuriki after all, especially the one had was rumoured to have caused the Kyuubi attack in the first place. If she was angry then, she was furious now. The rift between the village and the clan grew bigger and bigger with every passing day.
He knew they'd have to do something about this problem soon.
He didn't like the option he was thinking off, but there was no other choice. Sacrifices had to be made for the village.
__________
Sasuke was training with Itachi and Shisui. Well, it was more of watching them spar, but he liked to think he was a part of it too. He just hoped he'd be able to become this strong one day. Itachi said he will, but he didn't know. Father said Itachi was way ahead of him at his age. Itachi-nii didn't like it when he told him about what his father said, so he stopped telling him. He didn't want his big brother to be sad. He already had a weird relationship with father these days.
"Ha, see Sasuke, I'm stronger than Itachi-chan over here," Shisui exclaimed and Sasuke pouted. No one was stronger than Itachi-niisan.
"No, you cheated." he countered and Shisui tried to defend his honour. Itachi could only smile and watch from where he was packing his weapons. The situation in the village was extremely tense, they weren't allowed to leave the clan compound after certain hours 'for safety' and had ANBU stationed inside. But everyone knew why it was really done, they weren't trusted.
He'd hoped the talks for a coupe would run longer but the loss of the Kyuubi vessel had pushed them further. His mother was one of the active members calling for it now, while she'd only acted as a support before. She wanted to find her best friend's son as soon as possible and the village was taking it too easy in her opinion.
Both Shisui and Itachi tensed up when they felt a presence nearby.
"Sasuke, how about you go and finish up your homework now? Shisui and I need to talk about a mission," he said steadily, even though he wasn't as calm inside. Sasuke grumbled but did as asked and went to the protection of their house.
Now to see who managed to enter the private training fields.
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Obito observed the interaction between the two brothers and his cousin. Shisui. How he'd grown up. Maybe in some other universe, he wouldn't have cared much for the display, but this Sasuke was so similar to Naruto, so young and innocent, caught between the expectations of the clan and politics of the village, was something he couldn't dismiss that easily. Both Itachi and Shisui were protective of him, the big brothers.
He didn't want to ruin this.
But he had too. Maybe he could make some adjustments in his plans after all, with the thought in mind, he made way from the bushes into the clearing.
"Hello Itachi, Shisui,"
As expected, both boys were armed in a second, fully alert. "Who are you?" It was Shisui who asked him that. Eyes full of suspicion and determination. So different from the little baby he remembered.
"My name is Uchiha Madara."