I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 7 | Greener

The lamp was held up by a man dressed in a flak vest, looking down at them with black eyes that glinted in the flickering light.

"Obito. Why am I not surprised?" The man sighed. "And who is this?" He studied Naruto with a stern frown, obviously failing to recognize him. He held the lantern out toward him and Naruto stepped back once more, away from the light.

"Oh, no," he whispered hoarsely.

"Ch-Chief!" Obito said with an edge of panic to his voice, pushing himself between Naruto and the lantern. "It's just a misunderstanding! I had a friend over, see, but he—yeah, he has a bad sleepwalking problem. I was trying to hurry up and find him before he bumped into the police."

The police chief looked over Naruto again, taking in his onsen yukata, bare feet, and complete lack of weapons. He stayed silent for almost a full minute, face made even more forbidding by the heavy shadows cast on it by the lamp.

"Alright. I'll accept your story this time, since the elders think so highly of you," he rumbled. "Get back to your home immediately. I will not be so lenient the next time. I shouldn't have to remind you that, as a shinobi, you're no longer a child. Everything you do reflects on the village and our clan." He gave Obito a look that was a mixture of pure disdain and annoyance.

"I know," Obito said sullenly.

"You've already caused enough trouble for Minato with that Kumo affair. You're fortunate the enemy isn't willing to challenge him directly. I'll be watching you to make sure there are no more incidents. You are dismissed."

Obito scowled, but he pulled Naruto along past the older Uchiha.

"You, one moment. What's your name? Rank?"

Naruto halted. "Uh, Naruto. Genin. Sir."

"Naruto-kun, is it? If you were a troublemaker, I'm sure I would have heard of you. Still, the same goes for you. Youth is no excuse in a shinobi. Do not even think about causing trouble in my town."

"I won't."

Obito was pulling him along more insistently now. Naruto followed as quickly as he could without stubbing his feet on the paving stones. He could feel the stare of the older Uchiha following them into the darkness.

Just once, it would be nice to travel to another time with his shoes on.

Neither of them dared to say anything as they walked. After what felt like an eternity, Obito stopped in front of a closed shop and slipped in through a door beside it. They climbed the stairs to a cramped landing. Obito pulled a key out from under a rug and quickly unlocked the door.

They stood in silence for a few seconds after Obito shut the door behind them.

"I almost had a heart attack," Obito wheezed, slumping back against the door and sliding down to the floor.

"How do you miss so badly that you land in a completely different time?" Naruto said, clutching at his hair and pacing, full of nervous energy. His own heart was racing so much that he couldn't sit still.

"I don't know." Obito pulled off his goggles and stared up at the ceiling. "I didn't mean to. I guess... maybe I didn't have enough power left to jump back into your time, so we came here instead."

"Oh, man," Naruto said, sinking onto a chair. "I don't think that guy believed a single thing we said. I shouldn't have told him I was a genin. He'll look it up and see that I don't exist."

Obito snorted. "He could already tell you were a ninja. If you denied it, he'd know you were lying. He's the Uchiha clan head and chief of the police force, Uchiha Fugaku. He's been on my case ever since the Kumo thing."