Chapter Text
Obito royally fucked up.
So many things had gone so wrong in the past few days he had returned as Uchiha Obito. For starters, Kakashi had planted himself as a human shield in front of both Sasuke and Naruto.
First Rin. Next Kakashi.
Who was next?
That question was answered the second Sasuke drove his Chidori through both Naruto and Sakura.
It was Sasuke Uchiha who had won the war, which was the same thing as saying that nobody won. Everybody had lost. He had promptly executed the Five Kage while Obito was lying there on the ground, dying from chakra exhaustion and his extensive injuries. Once again, he was helpless. Instead of being crushed underneath the boulders, he was now being crushed under the weight of his sins.
It was all his fault. All of it. No amount of false sympathy could save someone like him.
Sasuke Uchiha had proceeded to free everyone from the Infinite Tsukuyomi but in the process, destroyed his own humanity. He was the one Kage, the one ruler of everything.
“In the memory of Naruto, I will grant you mercy,” Sasuke had said blankly, without emotion or feeling. “There’s a 20% chance you will survive in that state. If you do survive, you better know what’s best for you and stay out of my way.”
He had flash-stepped away, quick as ever. Obito couldn’t even muster the strength to curse him out. Mercy? He would have laughed if his body wasn’t in so much pain. Mercy from what? A few minutes, hours ticked by--he couldn’t tell the difference.
He wanted to die and that bastard couldn’t give it to him.
No, he wouldn’t.
Obito sobered when he thought back to the whole fragmented mess that was his life. No, he didn’t deserve a quick death. A slow and painful death--done several times over--and it still wouldn’t be enough.
He had hurt so many people and the blood still hadn’t dried on his hands.
Obito fought to keep his eyes open. The sky was devoid of sun. The whole world was painted in a weak, watery light. He felt a few drops hit his cheeks. They slid down his cheeks and one lingered close to the corner of his mouth. It tasted salty, like tears.
“Rin..Kakashi…” He thought, “please...please don’t cry over me.”
He was losing his grip on reality. He was losing it, losingitlosingitlosingit--
Obito allowed his eyes to relax, the stinging subsiding just a bit.
Darkness then nothing.
________________
Obito saw in bits and pieces.
The rain had stopped. Fire. Warm, cozy linen. The ceiling of a cave.
The images made no sense to his fried brain, only kept circulating again and again until he became nauseous. When he was finally able to form a coherent thought, he opened his eyes to a new world. The scent of blood and burnt flesh from the battlefield was gone, replaced with the clean, sterile scent of medicine and soft linen. He blinked several times before the world stopped spinning around him.
He was lying on a soft mattress. Obito had almost forgotten what sleeping on a comfortable warm bed felt like. He absorbed the foreign sensation before attempting to flex his fingers. They moved as did his legs.
He frowned.
Everything had healed?
He tested his chakra and sent spider-web thin threads outwards. His control had returned, as did his chakra supply. What was going on?
Obito then turned his head and nearly shit his pants.
For a good second or two, he was sure it was a demon staring down at his prone form. Long black hair completely covered the face and sickly pale skin was visible at the neck and arms. Obito narrowed his eyes in what he thought to be a menacing motion, but the figure did not flinch. From the figure’s perspective, it probably just looked like he was squinting like an old man.
“Who are you?” His voice most certainly did not shake because Obito was an S-ranked shinobi damn it and he wasn’t scared of anything.
The figure then raised its head slowly, giving Obito yet another heart attack.
It was a girl.
She couldn’t have been older than ten. It was those long, untrimmed bangs that had covered her entire face when she had bent her neck to look at him. Behind the black curtain of hair, he thought he could see hints of pale lilac or rose. But the delicate nose was still visible, as was the smooth porcelain skin.
No traces of baby fat though.
Obito frowned before looking at her arms. They were short and spindly, more like skeleton arms than anything.
Something twisted, low in his gut. “Have you eaten?” He asked.
She said nothing, just continued looking straight at him.
Obito swallowed. “Were you the one who healed me?”
She didn’t reply, only kept staring.
Obito, despite himself, began to feel the tiniest bit annoyed. “What are you playing at? You didn’t kill me, and decided to save me? Who the hell are you, kid?”
The girl kept staring for an extremely long moment before her mouth moved, forming words. Her voice was perfectly blank as she recited, “Uchiha Obito, age 31, height 182 cm, weight 70.3 kg. Wielder of the Sharingan, the Uchiha dojutsu. User of Wood Release due to Hashirama’s cells being implanted at an unknown point of time. Thought to have died at the Mission of Kannabi Bridge. Sensei: Namikaze Minato--”
“Wait, stop!” Obito felt himself get a splitting migraine. “Excuse my language in front of a midget ten-year old, but what the actual fuck?”
The girl studied him behind the curtain of black hair. Her mouth was pinched in what Obito perceived as intense thinking. She then criss-crossed her legs and hugged herself tight. After a few moments of not knowing what else to say other than stare, the girl spoke again.
“Thought to have died at the Mission of Kannabi Bridge. Sensei: Namikaze Minato. The Yellow Flash of Konoha, responsible for ending the Third Shinobi War. User of the Hiraishin. The Fourth Hokage. Wife: Uzumaki Kushina, the former Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Uchiha Obito’s teammates were Rin Nohara and Kakashi Hatake. Rin Nohara--former medic nin. Died after a subterfuge attempt from Kirigakure--”
“Stop.” All concern dropped from Obito’s voice. His voice was harsh and biting, bordering on cruel.
The girl slowly closed her mouth, lips thinning with effort to keep it closed.
“I will ask the questions and you will respond truthfully, got it?” He said, dead-calm.
The girl swished her dark hair as she nodded.
“Good,” He said in a clipped voice, “first, tell me the date.”
“November.”
He was out for nearly a month. Obito cursed fluidly.
“Where does your allegiance lie?” He asked.
She didn’t reply, only kept staring down at him.
“Are you on Uchiha Sasuke’s side?”
She shook her head. A no. Didn’t mean he could trust her, but it was a good start.
“Were you the one who healed me?” His voice was authoritative.
She nodded. A yes.
“Why?”
He saw her back stiffen slightly before she wrenched her head away from him. As if she was trying to deny he was there. She muttered under her breath, “Uchiha Obito, age 31, height 182 cm, weight 70.3 kg. Wielder of the Sharingan, the Uchiha dojutsu. User of Wood Release due to Hashirama’s cells being implanted at an unknown point of time. Thought to have died at the Mission of Kannabi Bridge. Sensei: Namikaze Minato--”
Obito finally broke. “Shut up!” He snapped. She immediately shrunk in on herself again. Obito felt a pang of guilt, but he pushed it away just as quickly. He could apologize later, once he deduced she wasn’t an enemy, sent to gain his trust. For now, he needed answers and he was willing to use any method necessary.
“What’s your name?” He asked, significantly more gently, as if he was treading on fragmented glass. She just stared.
“No--”
Obito raised an eyebrow in questioning.
“--name.”
Obito saw her hunch forwards and drag her knees to her chest. Closed-off, as if trying to protect herself from his onslaught of questions.
“Experiment 5C-832,” She murmured, “created by Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto-san.”
Obito tensed. Orochimaru? What was the snake bastard playing at?
But the girl wasn’t finished. “Orochimaru: deceased. Kabuto: deceased. Conclusion: Experiment 5C-832 has no master anymore.”
Obito tried to sit up, but she placed a surprisingly strong hand on his chest. “Uchiha-sama must rest. His injuries have not healed yet. Should he get up, Experiment 5C-832 has no choice but to sedate him.”
A shiver of fear rolled down Obito’s spine. She said this all in monotone, without emotion or inflection. And Orochimaru was famous for creating monsters. Who knew what she could do?
He forced himself to relax. “Why are you helping me?”
She only stared at him. As he grew impatient, however, she murmured, “Experiment 5C-832 has no master.” As if that explained everything.
Obito felt a corner of his heart shrink in revulsion. What had Orochimaru done to the kid that she would save someone just for the sake of having a master? She wasn’t a slave.
“You’re not a slave,” He said firmly, “and I’m not your master.”
The black-haired girl cocked her head to the side, clearly confused. “Experiment 5C-832 has no master,” She repeated.
Obito felt another migraine roll over him. He sighed heavily, dropping his hand.
“Forget it,” He mumbled, “I should have just died instead of dealing with this shit.”
The girl curled her fingers, digging her nails into her skin. Obito noticed.
“What?” He asked, disgruntled, “waiting for me to go to sleep so you can slit my throat?”
She tensed before blurting, “Does Uchiha-sama hate Experiment 5C-832?!”
Obito started. He hadn’t expected that question out of all things. Why the hell would a kid care if he hated her or not--
He regarded her carefully before finally speaking. “No. I don’t hate you. Honestly, I’m a bit pissed you didn’t let me die. But I don’t hate you for it.”
The girl immediately relaxed and returned to twisting her hands. If Obito didn’t know any better, he would almost call it a weird form of bashfulness.
He sighed, “I’m tired right now so I’ll stop with the questions. But don’t think I’ll stop here. I will definitely get my answers tomorrow.”
The black-haired girl nodded, something akin to enthusiasm, “Experiment 5C-832 will obey.”
Obito groaned, “And while I sleep and get my bearings, I want you to find another name other than Experiment 5C--whatever.”
“Experiment 5C-832?”
“Yeah, that,” Obito waved his hand dismissively, “that’s no name for a kid.”
Silence. He saw her frozen in place, head cocked to the side in the universal shocked position.
“Name?”
“Yes, name,” He murmured, “make yourself a name. You have until sunrise, kid. Don’t disappoint me.”
She bobbed her head, the mass of black hair swishing back and forth. “Experiment 5C-832 will complete the mission given by Uchiha-sama!”
Obito winced at her loud voice. The girl looked the most excited she had ever been since he had begun conversing with her. His heart sank a bit at the realization. She was excited for her first order. If anything, he had cemented his position as her master in her mind. Pity began swelling in him despite himself doing his best to stamp it back down.
He gave a long-suffering sigh. “You said it yourself, it’s Uchiha Obito. So don’t call me Uchiha-sama anymore. It’s Obito, got it, kid?”
“Ob-ito,” The girl tried the words, looking visibly tense and scared, as if she would be whipped for such an action. “--sama.”
Obito wanted to bang his head against the cave wall.
Kami help him.