V.1-C.32│Return II│

On the ship taking Mei and Obito towards the Land of Water, Obito was currently within his own room that he happened to be sharing with Mei.

While she was asleep in a separate bed, Obito was within his own as well, and he was specifically within a meditative position.

As he was doing this, Obito was trying to reestablish a connection with the alien woman sealed within himself, Kaguya Otsutsuki. She had spoken to him during Kushina's 'outbreak,' and he had questions as to what she had meant.

Yes, he understood a few things about her, but that didn't mean he understood everything and would need a proper explanation to her why she seemed so... desperate to want the chakra of Kurama.

He tried to return inward, and return inwards, towards Kaguya he went.

There she was, Obito appearing before Kaguya within this space that was both large and small. A space that Obito didn't know how it came to be, but he had an idea that it may very well be the space left within the seal created for Kurama in his previous life.

'She is beautiful... She definitely deserves the title of Goddess...' Obito couldn't but think this, especially with how... she looked to be like a Goddess as her title was given to her.

Approaching, Obito did notice that since the last time he had seen her, he was noticeably taller now than before.

She was about the same height as Kushina, give or take a centimeter or two, meaning that he was now tall enough to reach her shoulders. "Obito...? Is that you?" Kaguya had gotten up at this point, and she had come closer to him, embracing him within a hug almost immediately. "I missed you."

Kaguya smiled as she said this. "I missed you too...?" Now Obito was confused, as he thought he was coming here to confront the woman that was older than him my who knew how many years. Hundreds? Thousands? Maybe even greater?

He didn't know, but what he did know is that this was strange. "Really? I'm glad that you missed me." Kaguya replied as she caressed his head gently, soothingly, almost as if she was touching a loved one, so very much close to her.

In a way, at this point, Obito was pretty much the only person who has treated her normally in a long, long time. This isn't even considering the time spent alone, nor the way she had been alienated by those around her, even her own sons.

Not that she didn't take some level of responsibility for doing so, but it was something that had still hurt.

"Um... I'm not sure how to say this, but I didn't come here to... hug you?" Obito said cautiously, knowing that girls seemed to like hugging him a bit. If Tsunami and everyone else was any indication. 'Is this normal?'

"You didn't?" Kaguya then released him, and instead stood face to face with him. "Why did you come then?" She was inquisitive.

"I thought..." He looked into her eyes, but he wasn't able to see anything that would indicate she seemed to understand why he was here. "You said something to me, don't you remember?"

"Of course I do. I wanted you to help me out, but I realized that there was no way that you could help me then. It would be impossible. I was a bit... desperate..." Kaguya seemed a bit sad as she said this, admitting to him her desperation.

Growing a determined look, Obito decided that he should get to the bottom of things, right here, and right now. "Ok, that's it! I want to know everything... please." Obito of course asked nicely, as it would be rude to not do so.

Obito sat down as he said this, motioning for Kaguya to join him, and she did so, sitting in front of him.

She peered into his eyes, the eyes that were a part of herself, a small part of herself, something that she doesn't have access too, but something she had passed down to her descendants. More so she could see the strangeness of the situation.

Kaguya took a breath of air, imaginary air, but it was something that she would use to calm her emotions, unsure of how her beloved Obito would react. "Ok. I will start from the beginning."

Kaguya Otsutsuki was a member of the Otsutsuki clan and the matriarch of a branch family, including her children Hagoromo and Hamura.

Long before the founding of the hidden villages, during an era of endless war, Kaguya consumed the fruit of the God Tree and became the first wielder of chakra on Earth, before later merging with the tree to become the Ten-Tails.

A millennium ago, Kaguya and her partner, Isshiki, were both sent to cultivate a God Tree on the planet Earth and harvest its Chakra Fruit, with which she was to provide for the main family of her clan from another world.

Kaguya was a low-ranking member of the clan chosen as a sacrifice to the Ten-Tails, which would nurture the development of the God Tree. Instead, Kaguya desired the chakra fruit herself; betraying Isshiki in the process and leaving him for dead.

Kaguya was discovered by the people of the Land of Ancestors during an arrival to Earth, who brought her before their emperor Tenji.

Identifying herself as the God Tree's guardian, Kaguya used her abilities to wipe Tenji's memories of the encounter and subsequently settled among his people, becoming recognized as his concubine.

Living among humans, she slowly developed an attachment for the planet she meant to destroy. Growing closer with the emperor, she eventually fell pregnant.

When the Land of That began to threaten the Land of Ancestors over a border dispute, Tenji attempted to prevent the outbreak of war by declaring that anyone who attacked the larger nation's representatives was to be executed, an order which she broke when she was threatened by them, resulting in her and her assistant Aino becoming hunted by their land to be executed.

Losing all faith in humanity but still longing for peace, Kaguya believed that it was necessary for her to attain god-like powers in order to put an end to all of humanity's conflicts.

So, despite her clan waiting to harvest that world of its God Tree, she defied the taboo surrounding the fruit and ate it. In doing so, she awakened the Rinne Sharingan and became the sole person on the planet endowed with chakra.

Using her new-found power, Kaguya single-handedly ended the wars, and took control of the nations. For her deed of stopping the conflict, she received the blessing of the people and was worshipped as the Rabbit Goddess.

After establishing peace and changing somehow, Kaguya used the Infinite Tsukuyomi on humans to transform them into an army of White Zetsu over the course of many years in fear of her clan returning to take her chakra away.

Not wanting mankind to perish, she freed some victims of the genjutsu and erased their memories.

While giving birth to her twin sons Hagoromo and Hamura, she dispersed chakra to them, making the pair the first people born with chakra.

Ruling by herself and often resorting to cruelty, her dojutsu and jutsu were regarded with fear, awe and reverence by humans. At some indefinite point, the Rabbit Goddess had instead become known as a Demon.

Eventually, Kaguya found herself ruled by her own desire to possess all chakra, which eventually turned her against her sons. Having devised a plan to absorb their chakra, she integrated with the God Tree and became the Ten-Tails itself, followed by her challenging the twins to battle.

Assuming the Ten-Tails was an incarnation of the God Tree that attacked them to recover the chakra from its stolen fruit, Hagoromo and Hamura sealed the beast's chakra within the former's body while using its husk as the core of Six Paths, Chibaku Tensei, creating a celestial body that would become known as the Moon.

Hamura later took leadership of the Otsutsuki clan and departed to the moon to guard the beast's remains, while Hagoromo remained on Earth in order to spread chakra to humanity and teach them the concept of ninshu.

However, just before her sons could completely seal her, Kaguya had manifested her will in the form of an artificial human called Black Zetsu.

With the agenda of reviving its 'mother,' Black Zetsu manipulated Hagoromo's eldest son, Indra, as well as his descendants within the Uchiha clan and his brother's descendants within the Senju clan in an attempt to get one of them to awaken the Rinnegan and break the seal.

Madara Uchiha would eventually succeed in obtaining the Rinnegan, and Black Zetsu began secretly manipulating world events to have Kaguya revived.

Or, that was at least what Kaguya had told Obito.

She divulged to him everything. "This is a lot... you were the reason I died, or at least part of the reason." Obito couldn't bring himself to hate her, not really.

It seemed like things weren't as clear cut as they should be. "I admit that it was my original intentions to do away with the world to retake... my chakra." Kaguya replied.

"And what are your intentions now?" Obito asked her, seriously.

"... I want... I still want it, my chakra, and I wish for you to be by my side. I grew lonely, wanting company, and I have grown to want you as someone by my side." Kaguya stated with genuine emotion.

Shaking his head, Obito got up before turning his back towards her. "I cannot support you with this."

Getting up herself, Kaguya exclaimed. "Why not! Are you to go against me as well!? To betray me like all the others!?" Kaguya had tears streaming down her face now.

"I cannot support you with this not because I want to go against you. I don't support you because this would doom everyone else. I... no matter what, if the rest of your clan comes, I will take care of them. You don't need all of the chakra in the world."

"But it's mine!" Kaguya called out even as she watched Obito face away from her.

"... I don't know..." Obito couldn't say who owns what, or who has a right to what. But what he does know is that he doesn't want something like this to come to fruition, not again, especially since he has loved ones all over again.

Becoming an Uchiha and being affected by whatever 'curse' they have has only made him desire to protect those close to him even more.

"Please..." Kaguya came closer to Obito, reaching out to touch him, and he allowed it. "Please..." She hugged him from behind, placing her head on his. "Please be with me."

"I can't support your plan." Obito was firm in this.

Gritting her teeth, Kaguya spoke some more. "I can-... I can allow your close ones, your loved one to survive as well, if that is what is holding you back."

"I..." Obito would like to say yes, but he also wasn't like that. Not that he couldn't sacrifice everything for his loved ones, but more like he could think about it rationally. No matter what Kaguya did, the Otsutsuki would still come, and it seemed like no matter how much chakra she had, it wouldn't matter. "I still can't do it."

"Then... you have betrayed me as well." Kaguya let him go, before moving away from him and sitting down, curling herself up. "Leave."

Obito took a look at her, before saying. "I will come back."

"I said leave!" Kaguya screamed, prompting Obito to leave.

[]

Waking up from his 'slumber,' Obito had this look in his eyes that made him seem even more determined about some things than before.

Kaguya having revealed some things had put into perspective just how crazy things would get, and there was no guarantee that he would be strong enough to face all threats.

"Obito?" Mei's voice was heard as she was awake as well. "Your awake. Great, we have arrived."

"Really?" Obito asked, whilst thinking. 'Perfect timing I guess.'

"Yeah. Come, I should take you to another direct superior of mine. I don't know how this will go, or how they will react, so I would suggest that you be prepared to use your space-time technique." Mei warned Obito.

"Of course." Obito nodded in reply.

Having left the boat, the two would head off into Kirigakure, but this time Obito would wisely choose to not use his Sharingan, even knowing that he may be put at a slight disadvantage. "So that's what your eyes look like..." Mei said as she had happened to catch what he looked like without his Sharingan eyes.

"Is it that surprising?" He asked.

"No, you still look good." Mei smiled as she said this, seemingly becoming bold enough to state something like this so openly.

It was probably a combination of a few factors, including the fact that it was only herself and Obito together, instead of being around others. "W-What?" Obito didn't think he heard that right, as he blushed a little.

Giggling to herself, Mei added. "I said that you look the same."

"Oh!? Yeah... Yeah, that sounds right...?" Obito was sure that he heard something else, but maybe that was just his ears not exactly working right? 'I think I'm just imagining things. Yeah, it's my imagination.' He nodded his head as he followed after Mei.

She was taking him into the Land of Water, and within a few days they would finally get back to Kirigakure.

There was no time to look at the sights, instead Mei took him directly to the current Mizukage's office.

A tall man with black sclerae, no visible pupils, and long, black hair which reached down to his back with what appeared to be pearl-shaped objects encircling his head.

He wore the standard Kirigakure attire complete with pinstriped arm and leg-guards over which he wore a sleeveless haori with ragged ends and a poncho-like scarf around his neck.

This man was the Third Mizukage, and he was nameless. "Mei Terumi." The Third Mizukage spoke, before looking at Obito. "Why did you bring this outsider here?"

"Lord Third, I wanted to report on the situation that happened with those pirates disturbing the supply-" Mei began, getting on her knees as she started, but was interrupted.

"Enough." The Third Mizukage. "I have my own reports received. I don't need yours. What happened to Naoki, and your team?"

"They... have died." Mei replied.

"Humph. Useless." The Third Mizukage said before looking at Obito. "You, tell me, why are you here before I have you executed."

Narrowing his eyes, Obito answered. "I am here to provide proof of a traitor. That traitor being Naoki."

"A traitor? Who would've thought?" The Third Mizukage seemed wholly interested. "And what is your name?"

"Obito Uchiha." Obito knew that revealing his name would probably bring trouble, but he knew the man just wanted to start trouble.

"A Bloodline Limit holder, of the Leaf. Mei, you know this is punishable." The Third didn't seem to care for anything else. "Guards, arrest that boy!" He called, before some people filed in. "As for you, Meri Terumi. You will have to be executed for treason."

"What!?" Obito exclaimed with his own disbelief, knowing that things have probably taken a step too far.

"Capture them both."