"Can you make it back?" Naruto asked once they were back in his timeline and Obito let go of his arm.
Obito didn't look as tired as he did the last time they'd come back from the future, but he was noticeably out of breath. He had done a lot of big jumps over the two days since the Kannabi mission began.
"Yeah, I'm good," Obito wheezed. "I'm just gonna hang out in kamui for a while so I don't have to walk home."
Naruto looked around. They were back on Mount Myoboku. It was approaching noon. So much had happened since they left his timeline, it felt weird being back home.
"Listen," Naruto said in a low voice, "I don't know what we're going to do about Madara, but without you, he's got no choice but to hide out in his cave. He won't have a reason to put Kakashi and Rin in danger if you stay away from him."
"Yeah, I know." Obito was avoiding his gaze.
"And we need to find a way to talk to your older self. When do you think you'll be coming back—"
"There you are!"
The two jumped when Jiraiya landed down near them and straightened up to his full, imposing height.
"You're late!"
"I said I'd bring him back in a day!" Obito said. "It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet."
"That wasn't the agreement. What I understood was you'd bring him home at the end of the day. As in, yesterday." Jiriaya waggled his finger at them. "Besides, that should have been plenty of time for the team to make it back home. So? What went wrong this time?"
The two looked at each other. Obito shrugged.
Naruto turned to Jiraiya. "Those guys we fought during the mission came back. It wasn't a problem 'cause tou-chan was back with the team again. But the old man Sandaime wanted them to stick around in case it meant the surrender was going to be called off."
"That's strange. If I remember right, all the negotiations went smoothly after the battle. Maybe that part got left out of the official story. But with Obito not getting 'killed', who knows what might be different?"
"Everything's different," Obito said. "I'm okay with that. We just need to stay one step ahead. It'd be the same if we went in knowing nothing. Just like life."
"That's a surprisingly healthy attitude for someone who grows up with world-ending ambitions." Jiraiya laughed as if he'd made a great joke. "I'm glad the two of you made it back in one piece. What is the plan from here?"
"Go after whoever we can," Naruto said, punching his fist into his palm. "Have you found out anything while we were gone? About Sasuke, or Orochimaru, or the older Obito?"
"Possibly. I think it'll be easier to track the fake Madara now that we know who he really is and how his powers work. Do you think he can do the same thing as you? By going to other times, I mean," he asked Obito. "That would be a real headache to deal with."
Obito shook his head. He was fidgeting with his coat, pulling the zipper up and down along its track.
"He can't do it. My kamui is weird because of Orochimaru. Plus, my older self isn't as powerful as he could be, since he only has one of his original eyes."
"Ah. That would explain the one-eyed mask," Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "That's right. Kakashi has the other eye. I heard about that incident back when it happened—Minato really had to smooth things over with the Uchiha once Kakashi started making a name for himself with that Sharingan. I wonder if it's part of your older self's plan to take it back from Kakashi."
"No, he ends up looking for the real Madara's eyes instead," Naruto said quickly, remembering the ordeal they had to go through to keep Tobi from finding them in the future. "But you know, Ero-sennin, we think Orochimaru might be interested in taking older-Obito's eye."
To his surprise, Jiriaya nodded slowly. "That makes sense on some level. I could tell there was another motive for him to come to this time. Some things never change. But how, may I ask, are you suddenly so sure that's what he's after?"
"It's because we—ah, crap." Naruto smacked his forehead. "I forgot already—we're not in Obito's dimension. Orochimaru is definitely going to find out that we know."
"It was too late for that the moment we went into the future," Obito said. "Jiraiya-sama, we went to talk to the future Kakashi. I just wanted to know what we could do to save Rin. But he told us Orochimaru took the eye the other me gave him. He thinks it might be possible for Orochimaru to get the same abilities as me if he takes the right eye of my older self here."
"But can Orochimaru use it even if he has it? I mean, he's been obsessed with the Sharingan forever," Naruto said. "Maybe he can't use it. If he could, he would have done it already."
"I don't know?" Obito crossed his arms. "But there has to be some reason he took my other self's eye. He could make a bunch more clones of me, or who knows what. I don't like it."
"I see. That is a possibility," Jiraiya said. "But it's just one out of many. We can and should investigate all leads, but jumping to conclusions will get you killed against people like Orochimaru and Akatsuki. It doesn't change what we need to do."
"And what's that?" Naruto asked.
"Whatever we do, we need to find a way to tackle the problems of Orochimaru and Akatsuki separately. It would be a really bad idea to try to face them at the same time again. If they get into a fight with each other, it might help keep them away from us, but that's only good for buying more time."
"And Sasuke... he might be caught up in the middle of it, too," Naruto said. "If we could talk to Itachi again, I could let him know what we found out. Maybe he'd help us get closer to Tobito."
"Don't start that too," Obito shot at him.
"Figuring out how to use Kurama's power is the best way I can think of to fight against Orochimaru," Naruto continued determinedly. "It's the biggest weakness he gets from having a plant body, and I might be able to break his seal that way."
"I think you should train to learn how to use that energy, but we'll have to move forward cautiously," Jiraiya said. He gave a quick glance at Obito. "Besides... if you destroy Orochimaru's tag, wouldn't that mean Obito can't instantly jump to your location anymore?"
Naruto stared at him. "I... forgot about that." He looked at Obito too. "If we get rid of it and make Orochimaru leave this world, you'll be completely cut off, won't you?"
"Yeah, I think so," Obito said with a frown. "I can't get stuck here as long as I have kamui, but I wouldn't be able to come back without an anchor. Unless, maybe..." he shook his head as if to dispel the thought. "Nevermind. Just focus on beating Orochimaru, then we can figure out what to do about his tag later. For now, I'm heading home."
"Why? You said you were just gonna wait around."
"I'm worn out. Just tell me when you think I should come back."
"How about the next time you get a real day off?" Jiraiya suggested. "We're going to be away from the village for a while, so the timing doesn't matter on our end. But the Sandaime will have your team on call until the negotiations are complete, right? So don't shirk your responsibilities to talk to us."
"You're right. Sensei would be mad if we got called and I wasn't there." Some of the tension in Obito's face seemed to soften. He still looked pale from the numerous multi-dimension jumps.
"Listen, Obito," Naruto started. "If nothing else, I want to confront him myself, and I think it'd help if you did too. Especially if it gets in the way of whatever Orochimaru has planned."
"I'm going to be busy figuring out what to do about Kiri. I'll let you know what Minato-sensei says." Obito turned around and held up his hand in a wave. Then the air around him spiraled into a single point, and he disappeared.
"Well, that's that," Jiraiya said. "What is he supposed to tell you about Minato? Has the cat gotten out of the bag?"
"He... tou-chan figured out who I was," Naruto said, still looking at the spot where Obito had disappeared. "But he said he'd find a way to let me visit again without making anyone in the village suspicious. He just doesn't want me to show up on my own again."
"Of course not." Jiraiya shook his head. "Everyone is tense enough with the war going on. He might have been happy to see you, but that doesn't mean he can make too many exceptions. Come on," he motioned for Naruto to follow him. "I've made some breakfast for us. It's just onigiri, but at least it's not anything bug-based."
He started off down the path toward the Great Toad's temple, and Naruto followed him. Even nearing the height of day, he could still hear the occasional frog chirp in the distance.
"So," Jiraiya said as they walked. "If Minato comes up with a scheme to get you back into the village, are you going to do it?"
Naruto trotted to keep up. "Of course I am!"
"Does that come before or after you defeat Orochimaru and save the world?"
"Are you making fun of me?" Naruto scowled. "I'm not saying I can take him all on my own, but I don't have to."
"Nah, it's not that. Don't be so uptight." Jiraiya waved a jaunty hand. Naruto was tempted to make a rude gesture behind his back, but the last time he'd tried that, he'd been crushed under the slimy weight of one of the less friendly toads.
"You know, gaki," Jiraiya said after several more seconds passed. "The fake Madara isn't the only person who wears a mask all the time. I think everybody does, to some extent. The older you get, the more necessary it becomes. You become the you that has to think about responsibilities. About home and duty. Your own health. Family. You put on all kinds of masks for the different roles you play. There's no way to escape that, unless you get stuck living in the past and refuse to face reality."
Naruto looked around through the stalks and giant leaves that lined the path. They occasionally dipped inward far enough that he had to push it aside, sprinkling drops of dew. He knew what Jiraiya was trying to say.
"I know I don't belong in that time," he said after a moment. "I just want to make sure... I want them to still be around if there is another me there someday."
"Ah. Fair enough." Jiraiya smiled back at him and kept walking.
"It was Obito who killed them. My mom and dad," Naruto said.
The clop of Jiraiya's wooden sandals on the stone silenced.
"It's not like I blame him for what his other self does," Naruto said. "I just don't understand it. The one thing Obito always talks about is protecting the people who are important to him. I just don't see how someone like that could do something like that."
Obito, this Obito, had really become his friend. Like Gaara was his friend, and Sakura, Konohamaru, and even Sasuke. The kind of friend he trusted. In two out of the three worlds they knew, Obito had taken everything from him. But somehow, Naruto couldn't bring himself to feel angry. Just sad.
"I don't understand it," he repeated. "It keeps happening. Everyone's different in every time."
"Getting stuck in the past, even if only in your head, changes your priorities in the present. I think you know that," Jiraiya rumbled with a sigh. "It's easy to do. We don't usually get the chance to go back and change things, so we do the next best thing: reject the present. There are endless ways to avoid facing your own pain. Most people lose to themselves before they find a way to do it."
Naruto walked along silently behind him for half a minute more.
"I won't let that happen," he said finally. "I'm not giving in."
"You know something? I believe you."
#######################################
When they got to the temple, the Great Elder Toad was snoring away, as usual. The room they had camped in was unchanged since they left. Was it really just yesterday morning?
Naruto stopped and sat down cross-legged beside the pool. He closed his eyes and put his hands together.
"What are you doing?"
"If Orochimaru wants to steal Obito's eye, and if Sasuke went back to him and Kabuto, then finding Orochimaru will be the quickest way for us to get back to them."
"You haven't been able to find him that way before," Jiraiya said. But he sat down on the other side of the pool and waited.
Naruto sat and breathed, waiting for the inevitable clutter of distraction he always had to struggle through before he could feel the ebb and flow of natural energy.
Because there was something else bugging him. Something he felt might be a good idea to say. He drew in a deep breath and focused his thoughts.
'You tried to tell me, but I wasn't listening,' he said silently to Kurama. 'I guess you didn't say it outright 'cause you didn't want me to react with tou-chan sitting there. Or something like that?'
No response. Naruto knew Kurama could hear him. He just wasn't in the mood to answer right now. Naruto couldn't blame him.
'Anyway, I'm sorry. And, I guess, thanks for not saying it was Obito right then. You probably weren't trying to help him, but I'm glad I didn't find out while I was still talking to my dad. And I'm sorry for what happened to you, too. You shouldn't have been used like that.'
There was another stretch of silence. When he still didn't get an answer, Naruto shifted his attention outward.
The Orochimaru that was in this timeline now, unlike his predecessor, had a straight line linking him to wherever Naruto was, at least while they were in the same world. He couldn't trace it just by searching along it—at least, he hadn't been able to yet. The last time he had tried doing that, in the future timeline, the seal had overwhelmed his sense-vision.
Now he was going to try again. Instead of trying to physically grab hold of the invisible line, he used the Mode to feel along it carefully as it arched into the sky, like a blindfolded tightrope walker edging over a cliff.
Other streams of energy swirled through the air around it, but the line remained solid, unswayed by the current.
Trying to follow the line without touching it was very difficult, and it took a lot of concentration. A bead of sweat rolling down Naruto's neck made his attention wobble, and it was hard to find his place again without starting over.
Forcing Sage Mode to move in a straight line rather than flowing along the currents of energy was a lot harder than expected. And slower.
He relaxed and let the sense-sight fall into the current, searching instead for places where the line intersected further ahead, and that was slightly easier.
Then, suddenly, he saw.
He saw Orochimaru's face for just a second. It wasn't like before, when he only saw the yellow, watching eyes.
Orochimaru turned toward him, smiling viciously, and then—something happened. Everything turned into a wash of white, a TV tuned to a dead channel.
There was a jolt, like an electric shock, lighting up his senses. It peaked painfully, then it was gone. He was outside again.
Naruto opened his eyes and felt the Sage energy leave him with a sudden rush of breath.
"Well?" Jiraiya said.
Naruto shook off the feeling of being suddenly forced out. Normally he felt relaxed after doing a search, but this time he was tense. "I saw him. It was hard to tell what was going on. "
"Did you see Sasuke or anyone else?"
"No... I just saw his face. Nothing else was really clear."
Jiraiya gave a skeptical hum and unwrapped a packet of onigiri.
Naruto looked down to his hands, trying to hold on to what he'd seen. He didn't know if it meant anything, but maybe he could learn to refine the technique to see more of what was happening.
"It was worth a try," Jiraiya said, nudging a packet over to him. Naruto suddenly realized how hungry he was and tore into it. "We'll do this systematically, the way we did before. But there's an interesting little detour we need to take first. I promise it won't take long."
"Wha'sat?" Naruto said with his mouth full.
"Our friends in this time's Kiri have come up with a possible strategy against our not-so-friendly Obito."
######################################
Obito flopped backward onto a huge stack of pillows.
"I'm crashing here for a while," he announced. "I've had enough of Kakashi for today."
Kabuto came just into his line of vision, peering down at him through his overlarge glasses. "Won't they be worried?"
"Nah, I told them to go back without me. It's going to be annoying enough when we get back, anyway. May as well relax while I can."
Kabuto tilted his head in a half-shrug and went back to the small table where he had been studying a huge medical textbook for weeks. Somehow, he had the patience to deal with high-level descriptions of jutsu theory, looking up whatever he didn't understand and requesting books he didn't already have.
Missing materials—yet another reason the Sandaime might skin Obito alive if he found out about everything.
Obito stared up at the drab ceiling inside the large canvas tent he'd snatched from the future timeline along with its current occupant. He had to convince Minato to keep the other timelines a secret, even if the compromise to that was letting the Sandaime in on his Sharingan ability.
The Uchiha would find out pretty quickly, which was an annoying thought. Given his nomination, there was a good chance they already knew.
But there was a bigger problem here than just getting scrutinized by the Clan Head.
Minato knew about the Kyuubi attack now, and he had probably already figured out that an Uchiha was responsible. But he didn't know which one.
Which meant Obito would either have to tell the story of his other self, or pin all the blame on the real Madara. Otherwise, Minato's suspicion would fall on the rest of the clan, and no matter how discreet he tried to be about it, they would notice and resent it.
The choice was obvious. They had to bring Madara down one way or another. If the old man was barely alive right now, maybe they stood a chance.
Obito didn't really believe Madara would sit around waiting to die if he never showed up.
It made sense—it was safer to pretend Madara was the only one responsible. There was no reason to complicate things with the truth.
All Obito needed to do was swallow his fear, and push away that sliver of darkness as if it did not belong to him. Bury it deep, deep down, so the ancient Uchiha would never get the chance to pry it out of his heart.
"What are you going to do when you get back home?" Kabuto asked suddenly. "Are you going to bring Minato-sensei back here to talk?"
"Maybe. Then we could be sure no one's listening. Especially no one from the Uchiha. I guess, the main thing for now is to keep anyone from finding out about the other dimensions."
"It'll be okay. Minato-sensei is smart. He'll know what to do about Madara, and how to stop the Uchiha from getting erased. You already know who killed them all, right?"
"It's more complicated than that," Obito said tiredly. "If it's who I think, he's practically a toddler right now. I can't hold that against a little kid. Besides... Naruto said the clan was planning a coup. Somebody else would have wiped them out even if the Head's son didn't. But maybe we can just blame Madara for everything. I don't care what anybody thinks of him."
"But you're an Uchiha. Can't you make sure they won't get themselves in trouble like that?"
Obito snorted. "Yeah, right. No one tells me anything."
"You could change that, though," Kabuto insisted, standing from his chair.
Obito sat up on the pile of pillows to give him a skeptical look. "They don't like me, and I don't like them. That's how it is. I don't want to change it."
"But you could do it if you tried. Your power is really special, even if you keep the part about other timelines a secret. And if you can convince Minato-sensei to leave the Uchiha to you, then you'll be able to do things how you want."
"Ugh." Obito flopped back down dramatically. It was almost jarring, how perceptive Kabuto could be sometimes. "You might be right. Somebody in the clan has recommended me for jounin."
"Really? Do you know who it is?"
"No." Obito crossed his arms. "But Minato-sensei is gonna want someone who can watch the Uchiha without making them mad. I think there has to be someone who can do that better than me. For all I know, there already is. I don't want to get involved in that."
"Maybe not," Kabuto said. "But after the war's over, you'll get to have the rest of your life back. If you end up dying in a few years along with the Uchiha, then..."
His voice wavered. Obito sat up more fully this time. Kabuto was standing with one hand beside his book on the table, half-turned to it like an afterthought.
That kid has some abandonment issues.
"Even if they die, I won't," Obito said firmly. "No murderer's going to catch me. If I have to, I can live somewhere else. And there's nothing anyone can do about it."
"But you'll try to save them too, won't you?"
"I guess so. It would be weird not having them around, even if they are a pain in my ass."
"And you'll protect Minato-sensei and Kushina-san, too?"
"Of course," Obito said, though his heartbeat quickened at the mention of them. This was not a turn he wanted the conversation to take. "That'll be the easiest part. Now I know there isn't another enemy to watch out for. We just have to beat Kiri and end the war before Madara has the chance to stick his wrinkly old nose in it."
"What about the Sanbi? Like you said, they might decide to use it on anyone else."
Obito stared up for a long moment.
"Kabuto..."
"Yes?"
"You know how old-man-Kakashi said we could drop Orochimaru off in the future if we managed to get hold of him?"
"Yes. I was listening," Kabuto said uneasily.
"I wonder how big of a thing I could take from my time into that one."
"Are you saying—"
"They can't use what they don't have."
"You want to steal the Sanbi?"
"Why not? It's never too early to start going after world domination."
Kabuto looked up from the book to frown at him disapprovingly.
"I'm kidding," Obito said, dropping the sarcasm. "I don't want to use it. Nobody should. If we take it to the future, it won't be used on anyone. Rin will still be alive, and Madara will never get whatever it is he wants. It's a dangerous idea, but we wouldn't have to fight against it directly. Just get close enough for me to transport it."
"To do that, you'd have to go behind Minato-sensei, the Sandaime, and everyone else," Kabuto said skeptically. "There won't be support for a mission like that. You know that me and Naruto are the only people willing to help you do something so hopelessly insane."
"Yeah. That's what I'm counting on."
#######################################
Home.
Obito lingered behind the others as they approached the great gates that led into Konoha.
Home, country, and family were not things he tended to be sentimental about, but even he had gained a bit of appreciation since his original foray into the future.
He'd had an inkling of that feeling when he first returned and saw how worried they'd been—even Kakashi.
He felt it when he returned to his time and his team was still waiting for him.
He felt it again now, coming back from the mission he wasn't supposed to walk away from. It was exactly what Kabuto had said. You'll have the rest of your life back after all this.
Minato turned to wait for them at the gate. They were all dragging their feet a little, exhausted from the fighting and the travel.
"Good job, everyone," he said as the four of them passed through. "Even though things didn't go exactly as expected, we accomplished the mission and came back alive. That's something to be proud of..."
Minato's voice faltered and he stopped walking. Obito looked up and blinked.
It looked like half the village had showed up to welcome them home. Regular citizens, shinobi, children, elders—word of Iwa's surrender must have spread to the entire village.
When they stopped, the crowd started to cheer. Obito and Rin exchanged an amazed look. Kakashi crossed his arms, feigning aloofness. Minato scratched the back of his head.
The Sandaime was standing in front of the crowd, watching them from beneath his hat with a smile. He took the pipe out of his mouth.
"Welcome back," Hiruzen said. "As you can see, your recent battle has already caused quite a stir. However, I'm sure you're all very tired and ready for some rest—"
"You did it, 'ttebane!"
A woman bumped past the Hokage as if he wasn't there, knocking his hat slightly askew. A streak of red flew at them, and Kushina had her arms wrapped around Minato's neck, kissing him fiercely as if there weren't hundreds of people watching.
Kakashi took a decisive step back away from them. Rin was giggling, and Hiruzen shook his head and adjusted his hat.
The warm feeling in Obito's chest turned into cold ash.
"I'm getting out of here while I still can," he said to Rin. Before she could protest, he turned to slip into a side road. There were a few people standing there too, but they let him pass, clapping and wolf-whistling.
There were too many people in the streets to use kamui, so Obito took the long way home, striding through anonymous backroads, making his way toward the Uchiha district.