A Different Path (Obito Uchiha x Reader)

Chapter 72 - The Ones We Love

The silence after Kakashi's Chidori faded was deafening.

Obito's blood stained my hands, my chest—my soul. His breathing was shallow, ragged. His face had gone pale. So still.

I tried—I tried so hard to activate my Hundred Healing Seal. My fingers pressed against Obito's chest, the chakra diamond on my forehead glowing faintly—then flickering out like a candle in the wind.

"Come on... please, please..." I begged, pressing harder, ignoring the hot tears that dripped from my cheeks onto his skin. "Not now. Don't do this to me now—don't take him from me."

My chakra was gone. My body had nothing left to give. I was too far past my limits—my womb aching, my body bruised and spent from battle and heartbreak.

I looked up and met Kakashi's eyes.

He was standing a few feet away, still breathing hard, his hands bloodied, his Sharingan wide with something between shock and guilt. His lips parted—maybe to say something. Maybe to explain.

But I didn't want to hear it.

Tears blurred my vision as I turned my gaze away from him. I couldn't even look at him without wanting to scream. To break something.

How could he? How could he be the one to strike the blow?

My fingers found Tobi's, wrapping his small hands in mine. My voice cracked as I whispered, "Baby, please... do it again. Like before. You healed us, remember? You saved us. Please... save him too."

Tobi sniffled, confused, overwhelmed. His seal remained dormant, and my own was too weak to respond. Still... I tried again. I begged to every god, every spirit, every ancestor watching from above.

"Please—save him. Don't let him die. Don't take him away from us. Please..."

I was sobbing now, bent over him, my forehead pressed to his chest, my hands clenched into his cloak as if anchoring him to this world. The beat of his heart was still there—barely.

"Obito... please don't leave me. I can't raise our son alone. I can't lose you now—not now."

I couldn't stop crying. Couldn't stop the pain crashing through me like a storm. My tears soaked into his shirt, and with each drop, I felt more helpless than I ever had before.

I was ready to give up—ready to scream for Kakashi to carry him, to run back to the village and pray someone stronger than me could save him.

But then—Tobi's seal flared.

A pulse of green light burst from his tiny body, and then mine responded—our seals synchronizing in rhythm like a second heartbeat between us. My hands glowed, not bright but steady. Tobi's tiny ones lit up to match, his eyes wide with awe and fear.

I guided him. I helped him channel it. And together... we healed Obito.

The wounds slowly closed beneath our hands. The bleeding stopped. His breathing steadied.

He didn't wake up—but the life returned to his body, and I felt the steady thump-thump of his heart once more. Stronger.

Alive.

I let out a shaky sob and buried my face in his neck. "Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you..."

Kakashi stepped closer, his voice quiet and hesitant. "Let me carry him."

I didn't answer. Just stared at him through bloodshot eyes, my jaw clenched tight.

"Please," he said softly. "I didn't want—"