Chapter 18

'Because it'll be changed,' the raven thought silently, his gaze hardening.

All at once, time began moving again and they charged at each other.

Kakashi planted his hands into the damp grass as Obito charged, his legs kicking up above him to intercept the Uchiha's attack.

Instead, Obito ducked under the sweep and aimed for Kakashi's stomach.

The attack missed, however, as the silver-haired Chūnin pushed himself off of the ground to vault over Obito, who quickly switched on his heel to land a kick at the temporarily-suspended boy.

The attack was barely blocked and the momentum from the kick sent Kakashi flying, and the Uchiha dashed over to where he knew his opponent would land, already simulating the next exchange of blows.

Inwardly, Obito noted how he was faster—much faster—than the Hatake, but still considerably slower than he had been in the future.

His Sharingan was not activated, but he could easily see and predict his opponent's moves with startling clarity, possibly because he had sparred with the boy enough to see a pattern or he simply knew Kakashi well enough to understand his tactics.

Regardless, when Kakashi planted his two feet on the ground they continued exchanging blows in a strictly Taijutsu match.

Each movement made was swift and calculated to deliver the most damage while expending the least energy.

Eventually, however, the match degraded into less tactics-and-precision and more whatever-hurts-the-most, eventually leading to a brainless brawl that had them poking at each other's eyes, pulling at hair, and biting.

It was refreshing, in all honesty, and Obito couldn't help but think that as he lay spread eagle on the grass after they had burned out, a few feet away from Kakashi.

Unknowingly, his fighting style had become strict and calculated, without any room for error.

Perhaps it was because of the role of Uchiha Madara that he had to keep, but his old fighting style that was not unlike Naruto's had slowly ebbed away into nothingness.

Though Obito could barely breathe through the wheezing gasps of his rather young and out-of-shape body, he felt like he had never been able to breathe clearer before. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted off of his chest, allowing him to finally breathe.

The only thing holding him back was himself, he realized.

It was always himself.

Perhaps it was just a matter of truly seeing and accepting all of the fragments of his mind, and not dismissing and avoiding them as one would broken glass.

Uchiha Obito was a shattered man, but he could be rebuilt. It was this realization that made him smile through the countless bruises around his cheekbone and swollen lip.

He just had to take all of his fragments, however burnt, injured, or jaded they were, and build himself up from them. Naruto had given him his name, Minato had given him a purpose.

Now, Obito had to build himself back up and recreate himself, so that he could not only kill Madara but also protect his loved ones.

He would take Uchiha Obito the child, Tobi the destroyed man, and everything in-between to reform himself to be what his team needed

What his family needed.

As his eyes dimmed, he heard the worried yet exasperated shouts of Minato and Kushina, and felt a warm sensation of chakra wash over him as his wounds healed.

And then, he drifted off to unconsciousness.

"What idiots," Kushina mumbled under her breath, clearly irate with worry. "Your students can be really stupid, Minato."

Minato only smiled fondly as he stared at the unconscious form of his three students, all resting on the couch with a large blanket over them(courtesy of Kushina).

Rin, Kushina, and Minato had taken the two boys home after they fainted from their spar, and Rin promptly got to work on sewing together their wounds.

It wasn't long after that Rin had exhausted herself and had fallen asleep, and Kushina had begrudgingly relinquished her large blanket(though she was actually bitter about them worrying her so much).

Minato sent one last look at the trio before departing from the room with a smile, Kushina following after him.

"Anyway," Kushina began, rounding on Minato as soon as they had reached the dining room, "what's the deal about the council being after Obito's head?"

The blonde sighed as he motioned for Kushina to take a seat across from him, to which she complied. His wife deserved answers, and he would provide them for her. "Obito had been the one to burn down the house like we suspected, and he stated as much at the hearing. The civilians were not happy, as you can probably imagine."

Kushina's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did they do? I swear, I'll castrate every one of 'em if they did something I don't approve off."

"They, er…" Minato scratched his chin while trying to find his words. "… Well, they demanded that Obito pay for the damages and receive punishment." When the blonde saw his wife's red hair flair to life in a gravity-defying manner, he quickly tacked on, "but everything is okay now, really! Obito got off scott-free, and the council won't be bothering him again." '… If they want to live,' he added silently with a small twitch of his lower eyelid.

"If they want future children," Kushina added helpfully, almost cheerfully. Considering what Minato had been thinking, he could only agree with her statement.

The redhead sighed as she cradled her head in her hands, her previous high-spirits abated. "… I can't believe the council did that. I mean, really? On the boy's birthday?"

"There's a lot that I can't believe happened, recently," Minato murmured quietly with clear exasperation lining his tone. "So much has happened, and I'm only just starting to make sense of it."

Kushina looked at him. "… Did the Uchiha clan do anything? Did they help pay the fines?" Her brow furrowed curiously at Minato's wince.

The blonde combed a hand through his hair as casually as he could and sat back in his chair. "No, and that reminds me. I probably won't be able to pitch in on the monthly bill for this month, since I'm kinda shoulderingthedamages?" Minato couldn't help the groan he gave at the questioning lilt at the end of his statement.

For a few moments, Kushina only looked at him searchingly.

When she nodded and smiled, the blonde felt the tension he didn't realize he had ease completely. "… Good. Had you not done that, I think I woulda throttled you, 'ttebane." She then stood up and cracked her knuckles, walking over to the window, which was conveniently placed facing the Uchiha Compound. "For now, there's a certain group of prickly, red-eyed assholes that need a good ass-whooping."

Minato immediately leapt to his feet and darted over to his wife, hands held up somewhere between reaching for the threatening woman and hoping to placate her.

"N-now, Kushina, I don't think you want to do that. I'm sure that they'll come around, they just need time…" She only stared absently over his shoulder, and he gulped nervously. "… Kushina?"

She walked past him in an almost hypnotic daze and continued towards the window, seemingly unaware of Minato's increasing worry. "… Hmm," she finally began, "the moon looks pretty tonight, don't you think?"

Minato only blinked confusedly before walking up next to his wife, a small smile in place.

He looked up through the window at the sky; it was clear of clouds and a few star could be seen, but the most noticeable feature was the moon, which shone like a beacon in the middle of the dark sky. "Indeed. Not a cloud in sight."

When Kushina rubbed at her eyes, the blonde looked at her worriedly. "Are you tired, Kushina?"

"No," she murmured. "I think it's just a little dark in here. The moon looks so… Bright."

Minato looked at her confusedly before returning his attention to the moon. Indeed, it did look rather bright. In fact, it almost seemed like a miniature sun, what with the ways the man could see its faint light streaming across the night sky…

His brow furrowed as his thoughts trailed and his eyes wandered. An ethereal glow, lighting up the night sky. His voice was barely above a whisper as he felt pieces to an unseen puzzle fall into place. "… Bright… Night…"

Azure eyes widened in realization.

"… Kaguya."

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