A/N: This is a continuation of To Be Lost On the Road Of Life Chapter 1-15 from yaboyassassin If u haven't read the rest of the chapters just go and click the account .And also try to read their fanfiction stories, maybe you will like it.
Chapter 16 - Awareness
"There, all healed."
Obito grunted, rolling his shoulders and sighing in relief at the few pops the action incited. He turned to Rin with a grateful smile, and she beamed back.
"That was a good try, but you won't ever beat me at this rate, Obito." The Uchiha turned to Kakashi, who had the same impassive look as usual. "Just because you have your Sharingan, now, and you're somewhat stronger than you were before, that doesn't mean you can shirk on training. You're too slow, and your reaction time is awful."
The time-traveler rolled his eyes. It was difficult enough to forcefully slow himself down and hold back his reactions (which usually entailed killing his assailant) which was what he had been doing, but of course, Kakashi just had to add his "constructive criticism." And it wasn't helping, either.
Especially since Obito had this strange feeling that his teammate was actually weaker this time around than he had been previously... Of course, that could be attributed to the fact that Obito knew the extent of Kakashi's future strength and was subconsciously overlapping the two-and there was a rather obvious dichotomy there.
Part of him wanted to show his teammate his true strength if only to ensure that the Hatake was powerful enough for the Kannabi Bridge mission, but at the same time, he felt it was an unnecessary risk.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi's face twisted at the new honorific. "... Ugh. Don't... Don't say that. It's really weird." Obito was about to call out to him again, if only to see the boy flustered further, but the silver-haired Chūnin turned to the side with a furrowed brow. "Speaking of which... This is strange. Where is Minato-sensei?"
Obito shrugged, not particularly worried, even though the blonde was almost half an hour late. "Not sure, but considering he's a Hokage candidate now, he's probably talking to Hokage-sama about some political stuff."
"Yeah, but," Rin began, looking towards the Hokage Tower. "... Sensei has always been good about letting us know whenever he thought he wasn't going to be here..."
"And that's something I would like to keep consistent after today, if I can help it."
Two of the three Chūnin yelped as they jumped back in surprise, while the third (convincingly) feigned shock. Minato smiled at the three of them as he waved a small hello in their direction.
"Good morning, you three." His eyes roamed their slightly dirtied clothes briefly as his grin widened. "I see you've taken the initiative to begin training. Well done."
"Hmph. We're Chūnin, we know not to waste valuable training time doing nothing," Kakashi stated matter-of-factly.
Minato nodded. "Of course. Now, I have some news for you three, but I'll have to be brief."
Rin's eyes widened. "Has... Has the next Hokage already been chosen?"
The blonde blinked a few times before chuckling amusedly. "Haha, no, not quite, Rin. I actually haven't gone to the Hokage Tower for my meeting yet-" Obito inwardly thought, 'knew it,' "-as I wanted to come let you guys know. I won't be able to supervise you guys today, so I've brought in a temporary substitute that has kindly volunteered to supervise your training for the day."
Obito had about a second after recognizing a rather familiar chakra signature at the edge of the clearing before it Shunshin'd before them, setting Kakashi on edge and startling Rin. The latter almost immediately broke into a huge smile.
"Tsunade-shishou!" The brunette cheered, and Obito turned to her so quickly he might've given himself whiplash. 'Shishou'? And exactly when had Tsunade become Rin's shishou? "You're our temporary teacher?"
The raven's attention slid back to the slug Sannin, who snorted. "Yeah, I am. Because this pansy," she jerked a thumb over to a somewhat bemused Minato, "has some matters to handle with Sarutobi-sensei."
Obito was surprised. For a few reasons. First of all, he was rather shocked (though, inwardly he was sighing in relief) that Tsunade had returned to Konoha at all. He hadn't been particularly worried about how convincing he was during their confrontation, but that didn't mean he was certain she would respond as he hoped-it was still very likely that she would've brushed off his warning and continued her wandering, if her misery was powerful enough. Not to mention... Tsunade, Rin's shishou?
When the hell did that happen?
It wasn't a negative consequence of Obito's meddling though, however. This was... Good. Very good, fortunate. Rin, while proficient, wasn't anywhere being the best medic, a ranking that could've been attributed to her young age. Regardless, with Tsunade as her mentor, there was no way that the brunette wouldn't improve, and having a powerful healer on their team would only boost their chances of survival later on. It would boost the girl's confidence, too.
But still, that didn't mean Obito's interest wasn't piqued. Would Tsunade have so readily taken Rin under her wing, had she personally met the girl the first time around? Or was it something that he had changed, that made Tsunade see some latent potential within his female teammate?
"Tsunade-sama?" The blonde woman turned to him, though she looked oddly... Irate. "Rin called you 'shishou'. How come?"
For a reason he couldn't place, Tsunade's eyebrow twitched and she gave a wry smile. She opened her mouth to reply, but was quickly cut off by the leader of Team Seven.
"Anyway, I'll be leaving now," Minato stated, still with an amused air about him but also seeming antsy. "Good luck with your training, guys, and be careful."
Before anyone could ask why he couldn't teach them, or more importantly, why they had to be careful, he disappeared in a flash of yellow. Hiraishin was one hell of a technique that deserved utmost respect and awe, but sometimes... Sometimes, Obito disliked is just as much as he admired it.
"Alright, brats," the blonde started, eyeing each of them-though, her gaze noticeably softened when it fell on Rin. "I know almost nothing about you, especially you two." This was directed at Obito and Kakashi. "So, tell me what you can do, what you specialize in, and I'll see what I can fix."
She turned to Kakashi first.
"Alright, old-man, what are you capable of?" She smirked at the slight eye-twitch her insult earned her. "Minato says that you're the top of your graduating class, so I expect that you're pretty strong for your age."
He didn't reply immediately; instead, he had taken to staring at her, seemingly assessing her for her strength and worth.
"... Tsunade of the Sannin... I've heard about you." Kakashi looked as though he was attempting to stare down the woman. "... Are you sure you're fit enough to train us? I've heard about your... Gambling and drinking fixation." His eyes narrowed. "Should a drunkard like you be teaching?"
Suddenly, she disappeared, and Kakashi yelped when a fist collided with the top of his head. Rin received a light tap, and Obito, though he could see the Sannin's movements clearly, remained still as she flicked his forehead. All of the actions were performed without chakra, so only a minor crater formed under Kakashi, and Obito only toppled backwards a few feet.
"Ornery brat. Forget hearing what you can do and starting off of that, I know what you all need help with. You're slow and have the reaction time of mud," she drawled, a hard glint in her eye. "That's what we'll work on today: speed and evasive skills."
"What the hell?" Kakashi hissed, cradling his aching head where a small bump was already forming. "You... You violent woman! You're a horrible teacher who drinks, gambles, and has anger issues! Minato-sensei would never-"
"Even though Minato is fairly strong, he's still a wimp deep down, and I can tell by how you are." Tsunade pointed a glare silver-haired Chūnin. Obito was quietly watching the exchange and wondering, was this how volatile their working relationship was when Tsunade was the Godaime? "Yes, you are strong, but I've seen children younger than you that are more powerful than me, and they understood the battlefield. They understood that, even though they were strong, they still had a long way before they would be the best they could be-they knew that there was no room for pride. You are slow, and yet, you are a stubborn fool that-"
Suddenly, she paused, eyes widening.
And then, she smiled
"You know..." Kakashi froze, as did Obito, at the eerie look that crossed the blonde's features. They eyed the grinning Tsunade warily.
"... What?" Both the Uchiha and Hatake asked simultaneously, feeling sudden apprehension of the slug Sannin.
The malicious grin grew a little more. "Admittedly, my throwing arm... Has gotten a little flabby, since I've been spending most of my time gambling and drinking, as you said. This training benefits all of us. You guys get to practice evasion, Rin gets to practice healing severe and almost life-threatening wounds..." She dug her fingers into the ground, and, with the startling sound of earth cracking and breaking, she hefted up a sizable slab of earth above her head, and her eyes seemed to glow with demonic light. "... And I get a good workout."
She threw it at them.
Rin gasped in surprise and Kakashi leapt out of the way, already gauging her movements, prepared to dodge and counter any other moves the slug Sannin pulled. She dug her hands into her haori and pulled out multiple kunai and shuriken in each before throwing them with deadly precision.
Obito yelped in surprise as the small boulder flew past him, followed by the flurry of ninja tools. He turned to the blonde with an indignant glare. "Why are you attacking me, too!? Kakashi was the one that pissed you off!"
Tsunade's eye twitched as she chucked another few kunai in Obito's direction. "... I don't like the feeling I get from you. I feel like you deserve this, you brat."
The Uchiha gulped, inwardly wondering about that "woman's intuition" he had heard so much about, before darting off to the trees. If he could find a good spot to hide within the forest, he'd be in good shape-the natural foliage made good cover, from detection and miscellaneous objects (which depended on the blonde's mood) being thrown in his direction.
He made his way to a particularly sturdy-looking tree and perched on the top-most branch, concealing his chakra and trying to detect the slug Sannin's own-
Something collided into his back with a muffled "oof" and he heard a startled, "What the hell!?"
Obito barely had time to recover himself from the sudden collision before he was yanked back to his perch by the collar. He turned to his assailant and met the familiar onyx eyes of his teammate.
"Bakashi, watch where you're going," the Uchiha hissed quietly, glaring at the other boy.
Kakashi's brow was furrowed. "What the heck? Obito, I didn't even detect you. How did you manage to conceal your presence from me like tha-"
"Damnit, that doesn't matter, your chakra is leaking all over the place!" Obito's eyes darted around the area before widening, and he rounded back on his teammate. "Shit, she'll find us! We have to change locations, now-"
"Found you."
They heard the crackle of wood before whirling around, and coming face-to-face with a demonic-looking Tsunade... Who, quite literally, had a tree on her shoulder.
Obito had enough time to think one thing.
'... Shit.'
And then, the tree the two Chūnin were standing on exploded into thousands of splinters.
The training field looked like a damn tornado flew through it.
Trees (uprooted) were scattered across the open field, coupled with large clumps of upturned earth and boulders. Various impacted craters littered the ground with varying shapes and depth, blemishing the once flat and lush grass.
Kakashi glared at Tsunade.
"What're you glaring at? You were slow, so you got hit. That's not my fault, and this exercise actually helped," she stated flippantly with a wave of her hand.
"I understand not going easy on us because we're Chūnin, but look at how much damage you've done," Kakashi stated lowly, eyeing the grounds with a twitch of his eye. "Do you know how many D-Ranks it'll take to fix all of this? Do you know that it's likely that we're going to be the ones commissioned for this?"
Tsunade sniffed. "Actually, I did go easy on you, because you're Chūnin. And, maybe if you guys were faster, I wouldn't have pummeled you into so many craters and punted you across the field with so many trees."
Obito watched the back and forth trade of verbal blows with an impassive stare. Tsunade of the Sannin was strong. She wasn't as "powerful," per se, as Obito without him holding back, but she was powerful nonetheless. With the handicap of him consciously trying to slow himself down and discard his innate reactions, she was definitely the sure winner between the two. Obito had slipped a few times and reacted without thinking, lashing out in counter to one of Tsunade's blows-and she only took it with a block, a steadily growing smirk on her face.
He had to handle her with more caution than he had been.
"Phew! All done, Obito," Rin chimed, beaming. Obito turned to her with a grateful smile. "Tsunade-shishou sure did a number on you two. Really, chakra exhaustion, sprained ankles and wrists, broken ribs, light concussions... Then again, some of those hits did look pretty painful."
"Getting smacked in the head with a five meter tree tends to do that," Kakashi deadpanned.
Tsunade only rolled her eyes. "Stop complaining. You'll be thanking me years later when your ass is kicked six ways to Sunday and you find yourself able to stand up with minimal pain. You're excused."
Kakashi immediately Shunshin'd away at the dismissal. In Obito's humble opinion, he had never seen the Hatake move that fast, even as an adult.
"Er... Usual time tomorrow, Tsunade-shishou?" Rin asked, sounding somewhat hesitant.
The slug Sannin nodded. "Yes. We'll be going over some more chakra building exercises, so be sure to bring those special weights I gave you."
The brunette seemed to sag slightly-it wasn't in disappointment, but more of a regretful resignation. "... Yes, Tsunade-shishou." She turned and walked towards the town.
Tsunade turned to Obito, an eyebrow raised. "Why are you still here, brat? I figured you'd be high-tailing it out of here like the silver-haired mutt."
The Uchiha winced slightly. His teammate, especially not this younger and more jaded Kakashi, would not take kindly to that slight. "... I actually have a request, Tsunade-sama."
The blonde frowned. "What is it that you're asking for?" She actually looked wary as she asked the question.
"I was hoping that you'd give Uchiha Itachi a health check-up."
Amber eyes blinked owlishly a few times before a grin stretched across Tsunade's lips. And then, she started laughing, to the time-traveler's confusion. "Hah! The Uchiha clan would deign to have a non-Uchiha perform a check-up on their sole heir? I find that a little difficult to believe." She narrowed her eyes at Obito as whatever wry amusement she had dissipated. "Besides, regardless of stature, I don't treat my patients differently. If your clan wants me to treat their heir then fine, but if they want special treatment, tough."
Obito sighed, causing Tsunade's eyes to twitch. He looked up at her with a tired gaze. He sometimes found it difficult to believe that he had ever felt so wishful of being included as an Uchiha; their pride usually netted them disdain such as this. "This is not a request from the Uchiha clan, and not from Uchiha Obito, but Obito. I am concerned about my cousin's health, so I am asking Konoha's best medic-nin to perform a check-up on him."
The blonde assessed him briefly, eyes narrowing. "... You are different from your clan. I heard from Minato that you were, but... Huh." She shook her head and straightened. "You're an interesting kid. I don't sense a single lie in your words."
The Uchiha repressed the urge to roll his eyes.
"Anyway," Tsunade spoke in a graver tone, "what brought this up? Why are you worried about Itachi's health, anyway?"
Obito's resulting scowl wasn't entirely a facade. "... Well, during training one day, he started coughing. He told me that, apparently, it's a weakness of the lungs... I'm just worried that it could turn into something more severe as he grows older."
"Weakness... Of the lungs..." Tsunade mumbled, cradling her chin as her eyes wandered to the side. "Maybe.. Asthma? Water in the lungs? General respiratory condition? But if that's the case, it wouldn't just be a problem of the lungs and has a likely chance of affecting the other..."
Obito sighed as he watched the blonde fall to her musings. "... Tsunade-sama?"
"Ah." She turned back to him and nodded. "... Fine, I'll see about getting around to checking up on the little heir. But only if the clan doesn't give me issues about it." She crossed her arms. "Now, is that it?"
The raven nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah. Thanks, Tsunade-sama."
"Hmph. Whatever, brat."
"Minato."
The addressed blonde nodded in greeting as he entered the Hokage's office, noting the eerily grave expression on Hiruzen's face.
"Hokage-sama, you wished to see me...?"
"Yes," Hiruzen grunted out in affirmation. "I have some information that I believe you should hear."
Minato only nodded again, face placid and unreadable. The aged Hokage grabbed a folder from the side and opened it, picking out a rather sparse-looking report. "This," he stated quietly, "is a report that Danzō handed to me."
The Jōnin felt his blood run cold at the name, but nothing outwardly betrayed the festering worry and condemnation he held for the warhawk.
"It was not too long ago, and it had shocked me-I have no doubt, that it will shock you, as well. I do not expect you to act on it immediately, for this is not quite enough evidence to condemn, but I do expect you to be twice as vigilant." He coughed into his hand, glancing to the report. "Apparently, a small while after Obito's hospitalization, Danzō happened to overhear the boy saying a few... Things, in front of the memorial stone. Uchiha Obito had mentioned the Kyūbi, and that was what had initially caught Danzō's interest in what the boy was doing."
Minato clenched his teeth. So that was how Danzō knew.
"He also mentioned a name, but there was an apparent lack of records on it, so it was not included in the report. Now, for the more worrisome part." He paused, taking in the words on the paper before looking up at Minato with a saddened gaze. "... He spoke about 'trying to recondition his body,' how 'his limbs are shorter,' and how he 'had about a quarter as much chakra as he had as an adult'."
Hiruzen observed the suddenly very still man before him, trying to look into his familiar azure eyes. It was a pointless effort; Minato's eyes were shadowed by his hair.
The aged Hokage sighed, placing the file down and setting his pipe to the side in favor of interlacing his fingers to watch the blonde. "I understand, Minato, how it is to suspect someone. Someone that you have cared for, have taught, have trusted, and have given a part of yourself to. However, for the sake of Konoha..." His eyes narrowed. "... It is important to make certain sacrifices when necessary. You do not want to risk everyone for the hope of one."
A cold, stilted silence descended between the two men.
Inwardly, Hiruzen knew that what he was expecting of Minato was cruel. He knew that, to an extent, the blonde saw a bit of himself in Obito-the young Uchiha who was unwanted, an essential orphan, and was always, always working hard. Obito was a ray of sunshine that, while foolhardy and stubborn, used those traits to cling steadfast to those he thought precious to him.
He looked back up when he noticed movement; Minato bowed, his face completely obscured by his hair. "... I will do whatever is necessary for the future of Konoha, no matter what."
"... I apologize for this, Minato."
The words caused the blonde to flinch. He remained bowing for a second longer before disappearing in a blur.
Hiruzen sighed, standing up with a grim look on his face as he signaled for his ANBU to enter his office. Two figures appeared before his desk, both knelt down before him.
"Hokage-sama."
"Boar, Hawk. Retrieve Jiraiya and Tsunade for me, if you please."
They both nodded their heads once. "Yes sir." And then they disappeared.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure. The God of Shinobi. However powerful he may have been, however many accolades he had attained in his long life... Nothing had prepared him for this.
"... Minato, this is a trying period for those of us tasked with guiding the younger generations. For those in our situation, it ends in pain." He glanced to a lone folder to the right of his desk, labeled "classified" in red, ominous letters. Hiruzen took a breath and closed his eyes.
"... It is time I stop avoiding the truth, and see it for myself."