A/N: I just want to make this clear. Orochimaru knows a lot, but he doesn't know everything.

Chapter 9: Reunion and Separation

She looked around. 'Where am I? What's Orochimaru doing here? And who's this masked man in front of me?' Another thought crossed her mind. 'How am I alive?'

Madara stared at the young reanimated teen Orochimaru summoned. This was completely unexpected. "What is this?" he asked, trying to hide his anger by sounding more confused.

"What's wrong, Obito? Aren't you happy to see Rin again?" Orochimaru asked, making Madara go stiff. Rin's eyes widened as she looked from Orochimaru to the masked man. "That's right, I know who you really are. I admit, I was surprised to learn you survived Kanabi Bridge. And claiming to be Madara Uchiha too."

A sigh was heard. "It seems you've been looking deeper into our organization than I originally thought," Obito said, his voice not as deep as before.

"What can I say? When I'm interested in something, I'm very thorough in my investigation," Orochimaru told him.

Rin was still in a state of shock. Obito was alive! And standing right in front of her.

"However, reanimating her during our fight was a mistake. Tell me Orochimaru, what did you hope to gain by doing so? She is a medic, not a fighter and would not give you any significant advantage. So what? Confirmation of who I am? Such knowledge is meaningless. I am no longer the Obito the world once knew."

Rin's expression turned from shock to confusion. What did he mean by that?

"I can tell. Being the leader of a group of S-class missing nin is not something I'd expect from the weakly I remember you to be."

"Leader of a group of missing nin? Obito, what is he talking about?" Rin asked.

"Ah, now I see," Obito said, ignoring Rin's question. "You intend to gain an advantage by inflicting emotional pain. Clever, but useless against me." He looks at Rin briefly before turning back to Orochimaru. "There is nothing in my heart. I don't feel anymore pain." He hefted his gunbai and rested it on his shoulder while he pointed his kama at the snake sannin. "Last chance. Give me the wood style experiment."

"Here's my answer."

Rin suddenly felt stiff for a second before moving against her will, charging at Obito with a kunai in hand. "Obito look out!" Obito did not move and when she reached him, she phased right through him. He then charged at Orochimaru, who used his Striking Shadow Snakes jutsu. Obito cut them with his kama and brought his gunbai up to block Orochimaru's sword as the sannin slashed downward. "Behind you Obito!" Orochimaru's weapon suddenly went through the gunbai as a kunai went through Obito's stomach and nearly hit the sannin had he not dodged in time.

As Orochimaru jumped back and sent a glare to Rin before making a quick handsign. Rin went stiff once more. Now her sclera was black and the rest of her eyes were white. Her face lost all trace of emotion.

Orochimaru looked back at Obito and noticed something odd. He had sent his weapons back to whereever he had transported them from. The Uchiha rushed at him and Orochimaru stabbed at him, expecting him to phase through once again, then have Rin attack the moment he became tangible. But instead, Obito moved to the side, Orochimaru's blade cutting his side. Orochimaru felt a pain in his gut and looked down in shock. A wooden stake was sticking out of Obito's palm, impaling the sannin. 'He possesses wood style too? How?' The young Uchiha pulled the stake out of the snake's gut and swiped at him. Orochimaru jumped back, but Obito cut the stake at the bottom and threw it like a javelin at the sannin. Orochimaru smirked as Rin jumped in the way, and the sannin stopped suppressing her personality. Rin blink, her eyes returning to the state they were in before, just as the wooden stake pierced her, making her cry out. The scream became louder as the branches multiplied, sticking out of her in various spots.

Obito froze while the sannin laughed. "What was that you said earlier? There's nothing in my heart? I don't feel pain anymore? Doesn't look that way to me."

Obito glared at the sannin. "I don't." He made a few handsigns and slammed his hands on the ground. "And soon, neither will you."

Wooden roots sprang from the ground around Orochimaru, ensnaring the sannin and lifting him in the air. Rin watched in amazement as Obito utilized the First Hokage's jutsu. 'What has happened since I last saw him? I need answers. But with Orochimaru controlling my body…'

Thicker tree root sprouted from the ground soon after and started to twist into each other around the sannin, intent on crushing him. Orochimaru struggled against the roots to no avail, so with no choice, he opened his mouth, and another Orochimaru came out, like a snake shedding it's skin. Free of the binds, he quickly escaped before the roots could crush him. "My, my. Are you full of surprises." He noticed behind Obito a black snake. "But I'm afraid playtime is over. Got places to be, secrets to uncover, people to experiment on… You understand."

"You will not escape me," Obito declared.

"We'll see." He made a handsign, activating many explosive tags hidden throughout the base. "Goodbye Obito. Next time, you won't have the advantage of surprise." Orochimaru slithered away. Obito tried to follow, but he couldn't grab the sannin because the explosions forced him to become intangible. Growling in frustration, Obito was forced to swirl away.
-

Outside the base, Kimimaro and Jugo waited for Orochimaru with Naruto, who was now awake and dressed in his usual attire. He was a little upset to hear that Hinata had already left with Kabuto. He had hoped to at least say goodbye since he didn't know when the next time he would see her. They heard the explosions and soon after Orochimaru came out just as the cave entrance collapsed. "Lord Orochimaru! Are you alright?" Kimimaro asked, concerned for his master's wellbeing. He could tell he was fatigued.

"I'm fine. Take Jugo to the Northern Hideout, then regroup with the rest of your team and await my instructions," Orochimaru ordered before turning to Naruto. "You are coming with me. I will be taking your training to the next level. And know this, my expectations are high and failure will not be tolerated."

Naruto smirked. "Bring it on! I can take anything you throw at me, believe it!"

'We shall see,' Orochimaru thought.

Naruto turned to his friends. "I guess this is goodbye for now," Naruto said sadly.

Jugo and Kimimaro were sad to say goodbye too. "So long Naruto. Train hard and serve Lord Orochimaru well," the bone kekkei genkai wielder said.

"Farewell, my friend. I do hope we meet again," Jugo told him.

"Yeah, and I'm sure you'll be able to control that berserker state of yours by then," Naruto added, expressing his full confidence in his friend.

"I hope so," he responded, a little unsure of himself, as he and Kimimaro left.

"Let's go," Orochimaru said as he walked away in a different direction.

Naruto followed him. As they traveled, Naruto reached in his bag. Kimimaro said Hinata had left something in there, what he did not know. 'I hope it's something yummy,' Naruto thought, a bit of drool leaving the corner of his mouth at the thought. Looking in, he found no food but instead a note.

Dear Naruto,

I wish I could have said goodbye in person, but sensei said we had to leave immediately. I just wanted to wish you luck. I know you'll get really strong.

That's why I want to do the same. I told you that I would become a great medic so I could heal you when you're hurt, and become strong so I can fight alongside you. I meant it, and I never got back on my word. That's my ninja way too.

Love Sincerely,

Hinata

Naruto smiled brightly and put the letter back in his bag. He looked up into the air and pointed his fist upward. 'I will, Hinata. And we'll be the strongest duo ever! Believe it!'

Orochimaru didn't know why the boy suddenly got so cheery, but it didn't matter. The snake sannin had a powerful tool to mold to his desire that will shake the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He looked back at where his base was. 'And a little something to pester Obito.'

Obito swirled in front of the ruins of the old base. 'Damn that Orochimaru. I need to catch up to him. He knows too much.'

Behind him, Rin reformed, having been blown to bits by the explosion. 'I'll figure out how I did that later. First…' "Obito!" she shouted.

Obito stiffened for a sec, but did not turn around. 'Ignore her Obito,' he thought to himself. 'You have business. And she not alive. Not really.'

"Obito please look at me!" she pleaded. "I don't understand. How are you alive? Why aren't you with the Leaf? Why are you leading criminals? Why are you pretending to be someone else?" Too many questions were in her head. Still, Obito did not turn. "Please, Obito."

A sigh was heard. Obito slowly turned around and put a hand on his mask. He removed it, showing his face to Rin. She gasped. The right half of his body that she could see was heavily scarred. His left eye was closed, probably due to that fact that Kakashi had that eye now, but his right eye was opened, showing his Sharingan. "It's been awhile, Rin."

Despite what she heard Orochimaru said, she was overjoyed at seeing her best friend alive. "Obito, I'm so happy to see you, but why didn't you come back?"

"I was hurt really badly Rin. The right half of my body was crushed. Parts of it need to be replaced. It was a miracle the old man who found me managed to save my life. I had to undergo rehabilitation, during which all I could think of was returning to you and Kakashi. I left when I heard you and he were in trouble and Minato-sensei wasn't around to help you, so I rushed after you guys and arrived just in time," Obito's Sharingan changed to it's Mangekyo form "to watch you die."

Rin gasped as the memory of Kakashi's Lightning Blade piercing her heart came to mind. "Y-you saw that?"

Obito nodded. "Yes, I watched you die at Kakashi's hand. And when the Mist ANBU tried to recover your body, I slaughtered them all, before leaving. Now I lead a group of missing nin in order to capture the tailed beast."

"Why?"

Obito opened his left eye. "Because this reality is Hell."

Rin gasped at seeing a Sharingan in Obito's left eye. "Obito, did you… Is Kakashi…"

"This eye is not my own," Obito explained, point to the left one, which was not a Mangekyo. "It is a 'donation' from my one of my clansmen." The way he said donation made Rin doubt it was willing. "Kakashi is still very much alive and in possession of my other eye."

She let out the breath she was holding, glad Kakashi was still alive. "Obito, there's something you need to know about that day."

"I already know everything. How you were captured by the Hidden Mist and made to be the Three-Tails jinchūriki. How they let Kakashi rescue so you would return to the Leaf, where your seal would release the beast and destroy the village and in order to stop it, you jumped in the way of Kakashi's jutsu to commit suicide."

"But I'm not dead. I don't know how but I'm right here now. We can go back to the Leaf together. I'm sure Kakashi and Minato-sensei will be thrilled to see us," Rin argued.

Obito shook his head. "That's not true. You are merely the result of a jutsu designed to bind the soul of the deceased to a body, allowing one to reanimate the dead as their puppet. That's why Orochimaru was able to control your body, because you are not truly alive." Rin looked down and digested this information. She was unprepared for what he said next. "Besides, I only said Kakashi was alive."

"Minato-sensei's…" Obito nodded. "How?"

"You don't wanna know," Obito warned her.

"How, Obito?" Rin demanded.

He sighed. "After you died, sensei was made Fourth Hokage. And as time passed, Lady Kushina became pregnant."

"S-sensei was gonna be a father?" Rin asked in surprise. She remembered some of her talks with Kushina. How she and Minato planned be parents and hoped one of them would be the child's or children's sensei.

Obito nodded. "I imagine he was overjoyed at the news. He certainly looked happy before he noticed my presence."

"Before… Obito what did you do?" Rin asked, fearful of the answer.

"You know that Lady Kushina was the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox. She and sensei entrusted us with that detail. But when a jinchūriki is pregnant, the seal that contains the tailed beast is weaken, the energy used to maintain it is transfer to the growing child. This was the case with Kushina. Her seal was weak from childbirth, the perfect opportunity to extract the Nine-Tails from her. And a jinchuriki cannot survive without their tailed beast."

"Y-you killed Lady Kushina?" she said in disbelief. Sure, she and Obito often argued, but Rin could see how much they really care for each other. She couldn't believe he would do such a thing.

"Sortof. She survived the initial extraction thanks to her Uzumaki longevity, but even with that, she wouldn't live very long. I took control of the beast with my Sharingan, and summoned it in the middle of the village, where it went on a rampage." Rin turned away, not sure if she wanted to hear anymore, but Obito continued. "Sensei prepared to use his jutsu to transport the fox out of the village, but I intercepted him. With no choice we fought, during which he tried to ascertain my identity, never realising he was fighting his former student. Eventually he got the upper hand and used a contract seal to sever my connection to the Nine-Tails and force me to retreat. He then used a forbidden sealing jutsu that cost him his life in order to seal half the Nine-Tails power in himself."

"And the other half?" Rin asked. "Where did it go?"

"Into his son, Naruto." Obito answered.

"And what about him now? Did you do anything to him?" Rin demanded.

"No. I have not touched the boy." Rin sighed in relief. "But I do not know what has become of him. He ran away from the Hidden Leaf sometime ago, unable to bear the resentment of the villagers for what he carries. I don't know where he went or if he's still alive. After all, the world can be harsh to a seven year old."

For a moment, Rin was silent. This wasn't the Obito she remembered. The smiling child who proclaimed he was going to be Hokage. The boy who was always helping people, especially the elderly and was always late. Who was usually cheery and tried to act tough when something happened to him. The Obito in front of her was not like that at all. "Why?" she demanded. "Why'd you do it? If it's just because I died…"

"You death merely opened my eyes to the truth. To me, this world is fake. Kakashi and Minato-sensei were prodigies, geniuses in the shinobi arts. Yet whenever it matter the most, they failed. How can I accept a world like that? Or a world where one had to died at the hands of the person they loved as you did?" Rin looked away. "And that is not the only example. I have travel all across the Elemental Nation. In this world, the cost of one's happiness is another suffering. That is the simple truth. For there to be winners, there must be losers. It is unavoidable. It is not your death but this accursed world that brings me despair. This world that has killed the old me." Obito turned his back to her. "That is why I must tear down this meaningless reality, and replace it with the genjutsu world of Infinite Tsukuyomi. A world of only winners. Where Kakashi will no longer suffer from the guilt of letting you die. Where Minato-sensei and Lady Kushina will be able to raise their son in peace. Where you will live once more, and we can be the team we could have been had I not been crushed by those boulders. And I'll do anything and kill anyone who gets in my way."

Rin looked at Obito in surprise. "Obito, that's… that's…" She feel to her knees.

"That's why I told you what I've done. Because it doesn't matter if this you hates me, because to me you are not the real Rin." He looked off into the distance. "I have wasted too much time. Orochimaru has no doubt gotten away." He turned his head back toward Rin, who still had the look of shock. "Before I go, let me just say this. When I nearly died, what I regretted most, was that I never told you how much I loved you."

That snapped Rin out of her current state. 'He… loved me?' Kakashi had told her after his supposed death that Obito had strong feelings for her. 'But I never thought he loved me.' Looking back at Obito, she saw the space in front of him become warped and she guessed what was happening. "Obito wait!" She got up and ran after him. "Obito!" She dove after him, but before she reached him, he swirled around. "Obito wait! Come back!" she cried out, but there was no change. Obito was gone. She sat down and brought her knees to her chest. Then she cried. Cried for what her best friend had become, and because she knew it was her fault.
-

Obito swirled into existence in a secret cave base. There was a metal table with stacks of papers and files. To his right was shelves full of jars containing Sharingan eyes, taken from the Uchiha he killed when he assisted Itachi in the massacre. He slammed his orange spiral mask on the table, then flipped it over and shouted in frustration. "AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!" He punch the wall repeatedly with his right hand. "Damn you Orochimaru!" He punched harder and harder until his hand was white paste and the wall had numerous cracks around the crater he formed. He leaned against the wall and slide down, a lone tear falling from his right eye. 'Rin, I'm sorry. But I'll make everything right. In the new world I will create, where you and I can be together. And things will be as they should.'

Alpha: Shikamaru what are you doing on the roof?

Shikamaru: Watching the clouds.

Alpha: Sounds boring.

Shikamaru: I'm perfectly content.

Alpha: I don't get. Mind I join so I can find out.

Shikamaru: No really.

Alpha: (Lays next to him. A few minutes pass.) I'm bored. Ooh, that one looks like a doggy.

Shikamaru: I guess it does.

Alpha: I gotta say, it's surprisingly comfy. Nice and warm.

Shikamaru: (Yawns) Perfect for a nap.

Alpha: Yeah, but I'm not tired.

(Ten minutes pass)

Naruto: Alpha, you up here? (Sees Alpha and Shikamaru napping) Great, his laziness is starting to rub off of him.