Chapter Text
Madara had been working on a seal for the past two years and had yet to tell Obito anything about it. He also hadn’t tried to hide it so Obito had not been able to figure out if it was important or not. Madara was not in the habit of sharing many things with Obito. He had been keeping track until the list had gotten too long and he had to scrap it. Even though he has been with Madara for most of his life, he has not yet been able to decide what things Madara considered important and how he ranked them. To be honest he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Obito had been keeping an eye on the war, Kakashi, and his genin’s especially, though with how strong they were getting he wasn’t sure if they could still be considered that. It was interesting to see Kakashi use his eye, he was not sad he had given it to him since it meant he got the Rinnegan, whenever Madara decided he was ready for it.
When he first saw the seal, he was returning from one of his spying trips, Madara was sitting in the center of a massive seal drawn in what looked like blood. Obito would guess that it wasn’t his. He looked thoughtful and mumbled to himself, referencing a scroll Zetsu had pilfered from the ruins of the Uzumaki clan. Obito had stood at the mouth of the cave for several minutes looking at it. He didn’t know much about Fūinjutsu, just what little Madara had said offhandedly or in passing. It didn’t seem to be something he was keen on teaching Obito, but he gleaned what he could.
Madara had tried at first, but it was the slowest thing Obito understood, and that was saying something, so eventually Madara had given up. Obito thought that he had improved greatly since his time as the dead last of the Academy, but he didn’t ever seem to be up to where Madara wanted him.
“You are my student,” he once said to Obito several years ago. “The ability of the student reflects on the teacher.”
He had probably said it to encourage Obito to do better but Obito cared nothing for what Madara thought him as. He may have saved his life, though honestly, Obito wasn’t sure he was grateful for that, all the pain he had put Obito through he considered them even.
Obito was away from the cave more and more often now. Both as Tobi and whatever other disguises he decided on. If he wasn’t acting as Tobi, he was watching Kakashi. He had hated Kakashi, still kind if did, but the emotion was dampened by his desire to have Rin back and Rin had loved Kakashi so he felt obliged to do the same if only to make her happy. Kakashi may have changed but that didn’t mean they would ever be friends.
He enjoyed being Tobi, though he usually never admitted that outside of the deepest parts of his mind. Acting out his younger self in a perverted form was entertaining and it never got old to see the annoyance grow on people’s faces. Occasionally, usually, when it was dark and he was alone, he wondered if Rin, and Kakashi he supposed though thoughts of him happened even less often, would be able to recognize him. An odd pang would grow in his chest, quickly squashed and forgotten about until the next time he thought too long on the subject.
It was raining and Obito was miserable. More so than usual. Zetsu had made a brief appearance and goaded him into anger, something Obito thought he had a handle on. Although with Zetsu, it was never easy to keep a reign on one’s emotions. He knew exactly where to push.
Madara had been distracted with the seal again when Obito had made a short appearance at the cave mouth and he had left again without speaking. Madara would summon him if he needed him. Things seemed to be going smoothly, at least to Obito’s knowledge. The interaction they had was even stranger though.
“Come here.” It was a command. Always a command. Obito could never disobey.
Madara handed him a scroll with symbols on it similar to the ones on the floor, at least as far as Obito could tell. It was odd, but hardly the strangest things Madara had done. Zetsu was in the corner. Obito could feel him, cold and disgusting.
“Keep that on you.”
It was hardly as strange request, but it was coming from Madara and Obito learned that nothing good ever came from that. He watched the scroll, the familiar tingle of anticipation going through him. Something always happened when he was given things from Madara. It usually ended up with someone dead.
“What for?” He found himself asking.
A smile he’d never seen before appeared on Madara’s face. One Obito did not like. He looked almost happy, and not his usual content I’m-soon-going-to-end-the-world way. Zetsu chuckled.
“Something important.”
Something important. That had been the first time Obito had been told straight out that it was important. He didn’t have to deduce it or slyly as. That scared him more than anything Madara had ever done. But the scroll was put dutifully away and Obito had all but run from the cave. Madara’s off-putting smile seared into his brain.
The rain was a steady pattering in the background as Obito found a cave big enough for him. It was nothing more than a cleft in the rock, but he needed little else. Pulling a change of clothes from a storage seal he dropped his mask and Akatsuki robe in, still wet. He would not need it for a few days and there would be time to worry about drying it latter.
He checked the scroll out of habit. He hadn’t been back to the cave in several weeks but Madara’s smile still haunted his dreams. He kept waiting for something to happen and when it didn’t, he just got tenser. Important, Madara had said. Important for what? Obito had opened the scroll, Madara never said he couldn’t, but there was nothing else in it except for more of the strange symbolling. If Obito was honest, he wasn’t much of that anymore, the symbols had intrigued him, and he’d spend a few nights going over what he knew.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know enough, or the symbols were just that strange, and he’d been able to make nothing out. There was something about travel he thought or jumping. Even if Madara’s writing was legible, these symbols were too strange. Eventually, he’d given up. Whatever Madara planned to do with the scroll he wouldn’t discover that way. He would just have to wait.
Wood dried and a fire started with a Fire Jutsu and soon the space was warming. Obito thumped to the ground on a bedroll and set a detection trap at the entrance just in case. No one had gotten the drop on him for a long time, but it never hurt to be careful. He closed his eyes with a sigh hoping tomorrow would go better than today. Maybe he’d go see Kakashi again, or Itachi. It always cheered him up when he did that.
There was sunlight. Why was there sunlight? Obito’s eye flew open to see trees, light playing softly on the leaves as they rattled in the breeze. He tensed. This was not the cave he had fallen asleep in. Was this another test from Madara? He hadn’t given Obito one for years. Perhaps it was a dream. It had also been years since he had seen Rin die again and he desperately wanted it to be a test. At least in those, he knew what to expect. His dreams could be curler then Madara.
There were no chakra signatures in the area but Obito didn’t relax. He sat up waiting for Rin or Kakashi to burst from the undergrowth. Nothing happened but that merely made Obito more concerned. The longer they took to appear the more painful the memory was. His brain had added things over the years turning the terrifying memory into something more gruesome. Sometimes he was the one killing Rin. Others he killed Kakashi. (Those he never really minded at first, but after seeing a once friend, even someone who betrayed him, die by his hand was too much.)
Rising to a crouch, Obito pulled a kunai from his pouch. A bird called loudly from a tree and Obito shot it down on reflex. He stared at its body pinned to the tree. Had there always been birds in his dreams? His heart pounded wildly and his eye darted around trying to figure out where the phantoms would come from.
A minute passed, then two, then three, and still they didn’t show. Was this a test from Madara then? There was nothing, and although Obito didn’t relax he stretched his senses outwards. There was an odd amount of life in the forest and it tickled his senses. Even the forest around Konoha hadn’t been this lively. Perhaps this was a Genjutsu? He pulsed his chakra, but nothing changed. He pulsed it again, bigger but still, nothing changed.
A fluttery feeling, he distantly recognized as panic, swelling in the pit of his stomach. He pulled in a deep breath and closed his eyes, imagining the way Rin had taught him.
In. Out. In. Out.
Nature was usually calming but the chirps of the birds and rustle of leaves were so alien it might as well have been metal scraping against itself. By the time Obito felt calm enough to open his eye the heat from the sun had dimmed and shadows were beginning to play against his eyelid.
Everything’s fine, he told himself. Everything is going to be fine.
His eye opened and nothing had changed. Although the shadows were longer, and the crater edge was now casting him in shade. Wait. Crater? He crouched in the middle of a rather impressive crater. There was no smoke or anything to indicate it had just been created and Obito wondered if it had been his doing, though he didn’t remember doing it, or if it had been there before and he just so happened to land in it. It took him an embarrassingly long time to realize he was waiting for an answer from something that couldn’t give him one.
How had he not noticed this earlier? Well, he had been having a panic attack, loathed as he was to admit the weakness. Not much could induce panic anymore though when it happened, he tended to become incapacitated. It got embarrassing to watch. The sun had fully disappeared before Obito had to admit that this was not a dream, though he didn’t rule out one of Madara’s tests just yet. Whatever the case, he needed to find a place to stay until something made sense. Which he prayed would be soon.
He jumped from the crater into what looked like a battlefield. There were marks from Earth, Water, and Fire Jutsu though none of them changed the landscape quite as impressively as the crater behind him. He didn’t remember any battlefields in the area, especially none as bad as this. The battle felt old. The marks on the earth were already beginning to be swallowed and Obito frowned at the lingering feel of chakra.
The crater was roughly in the middle of the battle area and Obito could tell that it had ended the battle rather quickly. It was unclear which side had won, if any, or if they had managed to escape from whatever had caused the crater. Full details were hard to make out in the dark, though Obito had always prided himself that he had fantastic night vision.
Deciding the wasn’t important at the moment he stretched his senses again. Perhaps he had missed something the first time. Nothing changed so Obito just picked a random direction and started walking. He noticed as he did that the woods were alive in a way they weren’t back home. They thrummed with energy and Obito felt Hashirama’s cells react.
At first, he’d hated the cells and the ugliness they caused. They were foreign and unfamiliar and the power they granted him felt awkward. He’d known instinctively it wasn’t his power to wield and had come to resent it for that. It had taken several years before he came to an almost understanding with it, something he still didn’t fully understand. It was almost as if he had proven himself. He hadn’t told anyone, considering Madara wouldn’t listen to him and there wasn’t anyone else to talk to. The plants had started to become more of a friend then he remembers having in the Village. It was a little sad.
The night was spent traveling and he hadn’t met a single soul. There were stretched where no one lived but one was hard-pressed to go this long without some interaction. A traveler or merchant. But Obito saw no one. The closest he’d come was a skirmish several kilometers away. Although that had drawn him up short. There were Uchiha. Something he was sure he’d whipped from existence.
It was too unbelievable; he had to see what was going on. Sprinting now, he dashed off in the direction of the skirmish stopping short of sensing range, quelling his chakra, and creeping closer to look. The 6 persons standing in the clearing were definitely Uchiha. If the closes didn’t give them away their chakra would, Obito would never forget it. Four bodies sprawled around them, blood already draining into the forest. He felt the forest respond and flinched. That was new.
“Get the scroll. Madara-sama is expecting it.”
Obito tried not to fall from the tree. Madara? That senile old fool was here? Well, that just made everything easier, didn’t it. He watched the team strip the dead, tucking weapons, scrolls, and anything else they could into packs. Why didn’t they use seals? After storing everything they checked their surroundings, not as thoroughly as Obito, before running off. Obito followed.
The group traveled hard, reaching the Uchiha Compound is reasonable time. Obito waited outside, watching the group enter the gates and the gates close behind them. He was confused and a little angry that so many Uchiha were still alive. He personally made sure they all died, how was this happening?
Obito recognized Madara’s chakra almost instantly, flaring his to get his attention. He wanted answers and wouldn’t let Madara deflect anything this time. Madara arrived like he’d been waiting for him. Something that made Obito acutely uncomfortable. There was a Sasuke look-a-like behind him looking just as sulky and moody as the one Obito remembered. Madara even looked happy to see him when he jumped down from his tree. The look-a-like startled and pulled a weapon. Obito sneered at him.
“Obito, glad you made it. I knew you would find your way.”
“What’s going on, old man?”
“We are in the past.”
Obito scoffed. Of course, Madara wouldn’t tell him the truth. The one behind Madara frowned, confused.
“The seal activated before I could let you know what was happening. That scroll I gave you connected you to the seal. I was always going to being you. You are my student after all and what would be left for you there?”
Obito blinked at Madara who looked like he had just explained the obvious. His face had more expression than Obito remembered, but given it was almost 60 years younger he expected nothing less. That’s what the seal had been for? Bullshit. Obito didn’t believe a word. Madara was playing a joke on him. Given his history with the things, Obito knew something terrible would be in store for him. Madara never did anything out of the kindness of his heart. The Sasuke look-alike stood beside Madara looking as lost as Obito though his expression was filled with more anger than anything else.
“Who said I wanted to come with you?”
“Of course, you would,” Madara stated in so much self-assurance Obito wanted to punch him. So, he did.
Madara stumbled, expression showing his confusion. “Don’t look at me like I’m the crazy one. I am not your anything and would have been perfectly happy back then.” Okay, not technically true but at least he could watch Kakashi from afar and imagine Rin was still there. Here, in this strange place, it was almost impossible. “I didn’t ask to be dragged to kami knows where with someone I detest.”
“But you’re my student.”
“Having taught me does not make me your student. I would rather cut out my own tongue then call you teacher.”
There was a beat of silence before Izuna, Obito remembers, exploded. “Nii-san brought you here out of his own kindness, how dare you!”
“He took me against my will twice now, both times I would have been better off on my own.”
“Now, Obito,” Madara tried to reason. Obito now saw that whatever little sense he had was lost in whatever he had done to them. He did not believe time travel was possible and he would never forgive Madara for starting the Infinite Tsukuyomi, since it was the only thing Obito could reason to be the cause. He didn’t remember it happening, but it could have just as easily wiped those memories. At least he still had Rin.
Glaring the full weight of his fury at Madara, and extension Izuna, Obito left. Izuna went to chase him but Madara placed a hand on his arm.
“Let him, he just needs time. He’ll be back, he always is.”
Obito laughed. Be back? Never happening. Now that he had no reason to partner with Madara he had no reason to come back. As alien as the created world was, he was promised Rin, and Obito would find her or Madara would pay.
Tobirama sighed as he flipped the report closed. This was the fourth one in three weeks complaining about the mysterious white-haired ninja that was running around. One had even asked if it was him, to which he took great offense and Hashirama hadn’t stopped laughing for a whole day. The first he had ignored, the second and piqued his interest, the third he almost destroyed, and now this one. It was from an allied clan of theirs, a center for several trade routes, asking for assistance to remove the ‘annoying monstrosity’ immediately.
Hashirama had happily offered to go for once, but Tobirama knew it was to do nothing but see Tobirama’s supposed look-alike. Tobirama had refused immediately. If anyone was going to catch this stranger, it would be him. No one pretends to look like him and gets away.
Tobirama left alone, passing through the Land of Fire quickly, without the stops a party would have had to make. He reached the village in two days, a new personal record for him, but he had a personal grudge to settle.
“Elder, where is he?” Tobirama said for once forgetting his greetings.
The elder said nothing and motioned to probably his grandson. “Take him Kuida. It shouldn’t be hard to find him.”
Kuida bowed and led the way towards the center of the village. “He’s decided to station himself here once he figured out this was on several trade routes. He’s been asking everyone who comes by about a girl. A lover he claims, though I don’t know anyone who would want to love him.”
Tobirama was about to ask why when a shock of white hair appeared the same shade as his own but the face underneath it was a nightmare. Half his face was scarred and discolored, and the eye was missing. It looked like he had been hit with a rather large fire jutsu and had been unable to heal. The injury was not uncommon, though Tobirama hadn’t seen anything quite that bad before. He looked insane, the white locks were pointing in every direction and there were deep bags under the remaining eye.
“Please, have any of you seen this girl!” A sketch was thrust into people's faces as they tried to pass, and it was clear that no one wanted him there but had enough instinct to know what a shinobi looked like.
A surge of anger rose as Tobirama watched the man. How could anyone think that this could possibly be him?!
“He’s been here for almost a week and is scaring off the traders. Please, can you do something about him?”
Tobirama nodded sharply and marched over the crazy man. “You are disrupting these people. It is clear they have not seen who you are looking for. I suggest you look elsewhere.”
The crowd collectively sighed in relief at Tobirama’s appearance. The man turned to look at him and didn’t move for several seconds. “How are you in my dream?”
Tobirama frowned. This man was clearly insane, a ninja who had spent too long on the battlefield. “This is no dream. Now leave before I’m forced to make you.”
He could hear Hashirama screaming at him that this was no way to treat someone suffering from battle fever, but the words were out and Tobirama was not one to compromise easily. So, he just folded his arms and stared at the man. There was a slow blink in return before the man sank to the ground. The surrounding civilians cleared out quickly at the increasing chakra and Tobirama had to double-check that his senses weren’t lying.
He was an Uchiha. How had Madara allowed him to run around like this? Although he did not outwardly look like an Uchiha, anyone with enough sensing ability would be able to find out and nothing the man had been doing would bring any pride to the clan.
As the chakra levels continued to rise, Tobirama was afraid that something would happen to the village. Moving beside the strange man he placed a hand on the other shoulder and flash stepped away. They landed in a clearing a distance from the village and Tobirama once again moved away from the man, letting whatever panic had overtaken him to settle. He slumped to the ground and didn’t move.
The man’s chakra levels dropped suddenly and Tobirama tensed. He prepared for the worst then stared as the man pouted. A full-blown childish pout. It was worse than Hashirama’s.
“Aww, we were just getting to the best part. Why’d you have to go and ruin it like that, huh?”
Tobirama didn’t answer, too confused to speak. The man’s pout deepened, and he slumped forward even more. It almost looked like he was going to throw a tantrum and Tobirama hoped that wasn’t the case. He had enough trouble handling Hashirama’s moods, he didn’t need the ones of a crazed shinobi.
Taking an abrupt 180 the man jumped to his feet, standing with his hands on his hips looking like he had just won a prize. “Names Tobi. Nice to meet ya!”
His hand was expended now and Tobirama looked between it and Tobi trying to not let his thoughts show on his face. Most definitely crazy then.
The two stood like that for a few seconds before Tobi pouted again, his hand dropping. “Aww. It’s just a handshake.”
Tobirama ignored it in favor of his purpose here. “You are disturbing the people. Stop what you are doing or leave. I will not ask twice.”
Tobi tilted his head and blinked innocently at him. “Then no more fun?”
“No more fun,” Tobirama said coldly.
Tobi sighed dramatically. “Fine. If I must.” Then brightened. “Do you know where I can play next?”
Tobirama tensed and had to force himself not to react. This man was dangerous. Despite his relaxed look and innocent child-like persona Tobirama knew. There was no mistaking the chakra that spiraled almost sluggishly like the man was trying to hide the fact that it could burn anyone without a thought. He’d done it too, of that Tobirama had no doubt, and he wasn’t going to let a crazy, dangerous man walk around free. Him being an Uchiha had nothing to do with it.
“I do.”
Tobi brightened. “Then let’s go!”
He started to run off then turned to look behind him. He did another head tilt and blinked as if asking why Tobirama wasn’t following. Tobirama subtly reached down to check his weapons as he moved after the other man.
Obito was freaking out. He’d been careless. Looking for Rin had turned up nothing and he was beginning to panic again. No one had seen her, hadn’t even heard of her. It was grating on him. This was supposed to be the place of his fantasies except nothing went how he wanted it too. His face had always drawn looks, not that he let many people see it, but here there was nothing more than a passing glance. No one seemed to care, some had even been sympathetic which didn’t make sense, since he’s changed into his Akatsuki robes and everyone feared them.
Then the Nidaime had shown up and Obito was seriously starting to question his sanity. It had always been somewhat debatable but then was nothing compared to now. He hadn’t slept much, expecting Rin and Kakashi to burst from the undergrowth as they did in his dreams, followed, and killed while he could do nothing. The nights had remained peaceful and Obito’s sanity had slowly been going the other way.
Time Travel. Madara’s words played in his head as he ran in front of Tobirama. He had dismissed it so easily the first time, knowing it was impossible and that Madara liked to play with him. Except, here he was obviously not in the same time, the villages had proven that they were so outdated, and was being followed by a man who had died years before he was even born.
He didn’t want to admit it but maybe Madara wasn’t crazy. At least not more than usual. He thought maybe Kakashi was alive since the one time he had shown his picture someone had claimed he looked like a Hatake, which he was but Obito hadn’t really wanted to see him.
When the Nidaime has moved them out of the village Obito had come to some of his senses and slipped into Tobi without a thought. He’s come around completely when it was obvious Tobirama didn’t believe him. It was strange for someone to see through his persona so easily. He had built it so well that not even Itachi had caught on at first. Although, given the contrast between the two, he supposed it shouldn’t be all that surprising. Not with how much of a genius the Nidaime was said to be. Still, it would have been nice to not have to use it at all. At least his panic couldn’t take over just yet. Tobi didn’t panic after all.