1 V.1-C.1│Knucklehead I│

Dead.

He died.

He failed spectacularly.

'But why am I a baby?' Dying and failing to protect the world is one thing, but suddenly finding oneself in the form of a baby is most definitely up on his list of strange experiences he has gone through.

Having to go through the fun of shitting and pissing oneself, constantly being bombarded by sounds due to infantile, not quite fully acclimatized senses yet truly was pain.

Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. More than enough to describe what it is like being a baby, as your head is a vulnerable thing, especially since its weight forces you to not be able to weak.

With ones entire body out for the next few months, at the least, one has to get creative if they wanted to do absolutely anything at all.

'I have been reincarnated, and going from how everything is gone by so far, this is a painful process.' Thought our very, very young protagonist as their form was currently not the... best.

Laying on his back awkwardly, he wondered whether being reborn or not was truly a good thing at all. Having to live again is cool and all, but he is unsure if this is even deserved. After all, like he was thinking to himself.

He had failed. He had died.

Many may lament at how unfair this situation may be, but life in of itself is unfair. The very fact that one has no purpose at all, is unfair, but freeing.

As a baby, lying down within his cot, he was also unsurprisingly surrounded by a few other babies within their own cots.

Some were doing their own things, others were awake, but most of all everyone single one of them were orphans. That included the one whom reincarnated.

There was nothing better the baby could do but get used to his new form, exercise as much as he can at this stage, and rely on the newfound energy he has access to. Being reborn in the world he is, chakra is a powerful tool to be used for multiple purposes.

However, even if he wanted to do something, he would be able to do anything. Just very, very basic physical exercises so that his body is strong enough to walk earlier than most. Maybe even start doing some even harder physical conditioning.

Rolling himself back and forth, he stopped himself from moving as a woman had come into the room.

This older woman was accompanied by another. An elderly woman with shoulder-length grey hair and large black eyes. She is wearing a high-collared purple outfit with a brow vest emblazoned with somewhat resembles a gunbai.

'Wait a minute, isn't that the Uchiha crest?' The babe thought to himself, just as the two woman came along to him.

Not having much practice on how to act like a baby, he decided to just look dumb. 'Surely looking dumb is the best solution, right?' He thought to himself, as he made himself look as stupid as possible.

"This is the boy?" The elderly woman with the Uchiha crest asked the other woman, whom is supposedly the matron of said orphanage.

"Yes... poor thing. We don't even know who his parents are. The Uchiha clan sure are fast in their response to possibly having one of their clan members here." The matron said as she looked at the strange baby. "You will find that this child acts strangely."

"That is ok. I am old now, and without family. I should be able to take him in, and become his guardian." The kind elderly Uchiha lady said as she gazed softly at him. "What is his name? Was he given one yet, or... is there some sort of note left behind...?"

"Well... about that... he was abandoned. We don't know why, but all we know is that he was dropped off here. It was strange that whoever didn't want him didn't just leave him with your clan, but there may be some extenuating circumstances surrounding his birth." The matron replied, before gently picking him up.

Making a dumb face, and going limp so that these two monsters in front of him don't do anything funny, he stared. "My. How cute." The elderly Uchiha lady said

"He is rather cooperative lately. So I don't see a problem in leaving him in your care. At first, he seemed to move around and act much more strangely than he does now, but he is much more calm, even compared to other children. I thought for sure that I would have a big problem on my hands." The matron sighed but she smiled fondly still at the boy.

"Then I shall give him a name." The matron handed him over towards the older Uchiha lady. "Your name shall be Obito. Obito Uchiha."

'Huh? Did I hear that correctly...?' The now newly christened Obito thought to himself. 'I... I was just named Obito, and now I am being taken into the Uchiha. I can't possibly be...'

While the newly named Obito was having trouble calming himself down, whilst acting dumb at the same time, the matron replied. "That is a lovely name. I hope he grows up to be a strong young lad. Compared to other children, he is most certainly an angel."

"That is good to know. These old bones may be able to rest even in having to look after him." The elderly Uchiha replied.

"Well, I am sure that you will do a good job. Was there really no other family environment that he may be raised in? I thought that the Uchiha would at least let him have some sort of father and mother figure..." The matron trailed off.

"I know what you mean. I do not make the decisions within the clan. All of that is up to the clan head. It is only fortunate that little Obito here was discovered early on." The elderly Uchiha woman replied.

"Excuse me if I didn't catch your name. What was it again, ma'am?" The matron asked kindly, while the two of them left with Obito held within the elderly Uchiha lady's arms.

"Oh? That is fine. My name is..."

[]

"Granny Masumi, it is nice to see you around. I never get to catch up with you much." A relatively young girl said, her attire consisting of some basic kunoichi attire.

"Mikoto... How are you?" Masumi was currently doing some washing outside of her house.

Mikoto is a fair-skinned girl with long, straight black hair with bangs hanging on either side of her face to roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes.

"I am doing fine. Do you need any help there?" Mikoto asked the elderly woman, being respectful of her elders.

"That would be nice of you, thank you. I need to look after little Obito for a bit. He is quite strange, and I fear to leave him alone, by himself." Masumi replied.

"Little Obito? Who are you talking about?" Mikoto promptly helped the elderly woman, especially since she was just one of the civilians of the Uchiha clan. No one important, and without any real power within her grasp.

"Ah! That's right. One second, I will come and bring him out." Masumi went inside her relatively humble home, and came back outside with a baby within her arms. "This... this is Obito. He was orphaned, so I am taking care of him."

"Is he a member of the Uchiha?" Mikoto asked curiously, being able to identify many signs that he is in fact a part of their very same clan.

"Well, yes. However, no one knows who his parents are."

"He is not your real grandson?" Mikoto questioned after hearing what Masumi said, picking up on the fact that no one knows who his parents are.

"He is my grandson. My real grandson, and I won't be having anyway say otherwise." Granny Masumi seemed to get a little upset at Mikoto's comment, with Mikoto apologizing to placate the old woman.

"Sorry, Sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I was just curious, as it is rare for an Uchiha to be orphaned..." Mikoto said, knowing the very, very strong bonds that families have within the Uchiha.

It was strange that they would give up their child, and not even give up their child to the Uchiha clan, and instead placing them with the orphanage instead.

"As long as you know it." Masumi handled her grandson with care. "Now that is out of the way. Obito, this is Mikoto Uchiha. Mikoto, this is Obito Uchiha." Masumi introduced the two, even if Obito was only at most a few weeks old, and Mikoto was thirteen years of age now.

"Hello." Mikoto smiled kindly at the dumb looking kid, but she could admit that he was somewhat of a cute looking baby. 'Are all babies so cute?' She thought to herself, imagining having a family of her own.

Yeah, her family would be a great one. Most definitely not going to raise her eldest son, only for him to kill her and all of the Uchiha. Most definitely not going to raise another son, her youngest going to become an emo seeking revenge.

Yeah... she would have a perfectly normal family of her own one day.

Obito regarded the female in front of him, and could only say that she has the normal characteristics of what he would expect from an Uchiha. He wasn't too surprised, but knowing that this would be the mother of two of the most important people that this world is going to know of, he regards the woman with as critical eye as he could.

The thing is, this girl in front of him was supposed to be the mother of his best friend, or supposed best friend, Sasuke Uchiha.

There was no doubt, she would bloom even more within the coming years.

Pouting, Mikoto continued. "Hello...?" Seeing that Obito had no reaction, she looked towards Masumi. "Is he okay...? He is a bit..."

"Slow? You may think that, but Obito is most definitely one of the smartest babies I have ever known." Masumi laughed as she said this, proud of whatever achievements Obito had managed to accomplish in front of her very eyes.

"He does seem to have something... different about him?" Mikoto couldn't quite place it herself, but there seemed to be something off about him. If only a little.

"Thank you for the help. Now that you are a kunoichi, I do hope that you take some time to still come and visit me." Masumi said this before pushing Obito forward towards Mikoto. "Here. Hold him. I am sure that Obito will warm up to you if you hold him. Most babies develop that sort of trust with another like that. Spend time with him, and he may see you as family."

"I don't think I should..." Mikoto was afraid to drop him, even if she herself could control her body much more than a regular civilian ever would.

"It's fine, here. I need to go and do something inside anyway. Please." Masumi pushed Obito into Mikoto's arms, having her be surprised by this, she held onto Obito rather tightly.

'Girl! You are really pushing it!' Obito thought as his face was mushed into her chest, and she didn't really have that great of a chest area yet for him to at least be comfortable within. Making some noise, Obito prompted Mikoto to be more careful and gently hold Obito.

"Sorry, sorry, little one." Mikoto said, not knowing what she should do next, but Obito had calmed down now and was no longer making a small ruckus. Sighing in relief, Mikoto was now awoken to one of the scariest things she had to deal with.

The cries of a child. After calming down, and Masumi not coming out yet, Mikoto had to think of a way to entertain the child. "So, uh... can you understand me? Granny Masumi said you were smart, so you might be able to at least understand something I am saying, right?"

Obito would not give into the temptation to troll her, knowing full well that Madara Uchiha was still alive at this point and was possibly still looking for someone to help him with his plans, Obito would not be taken.

'Yes... Madara Uchiha. I failed and he won...' Obito thought as Mikoto stared at him, trying or seemingly trying to decipher what is going on through his mind.

Tilting his head, Obito kept up his act of being a relatively normal baby, even after Masumi had supposedly discovered his intelligence. 'That old woman is crafty, I'll give her that.' Obito thought to himself, not that he was able to better prepare himself against someone larger and stronger than himself.

He is practically immobile until he at least gathers strength enough to crawl, and eventually walk. "Nothing...?" Mikoto sighed before giving up and just holding Obito with herself. That didn't mean she wouldn't keep a close eye on him.

Her motherly instincts already coming in handy here, as she is now more acutely aware of Obito's wellbeing.

"Ah! I am done. I hope you didn't have any trouble now." Masumi came out holding something, before gesturing to have Obito back, before handing her this wrapped something. "This may come in handy. I may be no shinobi myself, but that doesn't mean I am completely defenseless."

"Thank you." Mikoto thanked her politely. "I will be going on a mission soon. Just so you know, I am currently a Chunin, if you would believe it." Mikoto smiled, proud of her abilities.

"Congratulations. You are growing up to be strong. Whatever it is your dream is, I hope for you to accomplish it." Masumi left off, before the two would split ways.