Chapter Text
The squirming is becoming stronger with each passing day. It startles him, makes him pause whatever he is doing in favour of soothing it. Not that it works really well, but he has to try. It’s distracting and he can’t afford to drop his guard, even if it’s just for a second. He wishes he could just ignore it, but the feeling sends his mind drifting to the things and people he caused to destroy, which chased him away from the one person he yearns for.
And so he lets his hand wander to his lower abdomen and rubs small, tender circles over the covered skin. He can’t even feel the movements under his hand yet, has to guess from the gentle ripples inside if he found the right spot. He tries, sometimes it fails and he has to abandon his current goal and come back to it later. The way it thwarts him is annoying.
Even though he doesn’t deserve redemption after all the pain and suffering he caused, he’s still determined to do some good now. Repair some damages and prevent other situations from escalating if possible. Konoha is vulnerable and he wants to help outside of its borders, until it isn’t any longer. Let Naruto and his comrades catch a break. His plans are a clear drop in a bucket of blood. But it’s what he wants and he hasn’t wanted anything with such an intensity in a long time, that hadn’t been planted inside his head by a madman. He values his new found goals, the sense of identity slowly returning into his consciousness, causing him to slowly feel like himself again…
At least until this happened.
It shouldn’t be possible. His body was a broken landscape, replaced halfway with foreign cells. He was crushed before he ever experienced his first heat and after he almost died, the cycle never developed. He hadn’t thought about it until his belly started to curve. There had been no symptoms to warn him of what was happening within his body, no hints that something needed to be stopped before it was too late.
Obito admits that it took him too long to figure out what was going on. Occupied with far more urgent things, the changes of his shape went unnoticed for days. When he finally registered it, he failed to grasp how he was even able to gain weight. In the end, it was the squirming that made him realise.
Since then he was adamant not to get attached to the thing growing within him. A distant voice inside his head tries to convince him otherwise on a daily basis, but so far he manages to resist. It takes a lot of focus to refrain his mind from wandering to the one night he spent with Kakashi before he left for his self-imposed mission. It had been surprisingly easy to let go of Rin’s memory when faced with the open fondness in Kakashi’s eyes. Just thinking about it makes him long for the other’s tenderness, his forgiveness and unconditional love. He wants nothing more than to accept it, he barely experienced what it was like to be alive, had forgotten the feeling after all those years of hating.
Yet he couldn’t take it. He neither wanted to taint Kakashi’s standing with the people of Konoha nor let go of his plans. He knew he didn’t deserve a quiet life yet and perhaps he never would. But if he didn’t try to support the village on his own terms now, he would regret it and blame himself for his lack of action if someone ended up hurt. Obito knew far too well what would happen after. The feeling would fester and feed another wave of negative emotions.
So he decided his time of hatred was over, informed Kakashi of his plans and parted with his old teammate in mutual agreement for the time being. And despite the longing tugging at his heart every day, he was content with his decision. Up until his body chose to betray him.
He sighs, giving up to try and soothe the squirming and decides to take a break for the moment. Obito can only guess how long his condition is going to continue. He has no idea how his body will affect the growth of the foetus. Hashirama’s cells were a danger to any ordinary body, Orochimaru’s experiments were a testament to that, so this could either go well or end up a horrid nightmare. In addition to that, Obito didn’t eat, could that turn into a problem?
Too many variables in this equation and no one with experience treating a case like this. There might be a few Obito deemed capable enough to figure it out, but the number of people that would tolerate his presence went down even more. He isn’t stupid, he knows that most of the shinobi world hates him and with damn good reason. It made the decision obvious.
He would simply keep an eye on it and act accordingly to whatever might present itself.
With a little time to rest and a calm companion, he went back to his initial task, adjusting his mask while getting up. A small group of rogue ninja headed towards one of the smaller villages, mercenaries sent to destabilize the fledgling peace. The forged headbands to leave at the crime scene weren’t very original, their transformation technique however solid enough to cause tension between the nations.
Catching up with them again isn’t a hardship thanks to Kamui. Obito acts instantly, positioning himself out of sight for his next move. The village his opponents are heading to is still a good hour away, far enough that no one should stumble into their fight. That being said, he is confident that this is merely a matter of seconds. Those guys are no Kages, no Kakashi, no Naruto. Disabling them and delivering them as a nicely wrapped package at the outskirts of the village won’t be a hardship.
Obito passes them without the group even noticing. He snorts, this is going to be a piece of cake. He lands a good deal away, right in front of them. Startled, they come to a stop instantly. It’s a group of six. Five shinobi and one kunoichi, their bodies ready for an attack.
“I only offer you this choice once,” Obito tells them slowly, emphasising each word to get the point across. “Turn around, leave and stay away from the village.”
A second of silence passes before the kunoichi starts giggling. “Ohhh, seems like we got ourselves a little hero.”
Obito can’t help but bristle at the title. Not even in mocking should a criminal like him be addressed like that. He narrows his eyes, gaze wandering to the other shinobi and searches their features for the briefest hint of surrender. Instead he watches two of them reach for a kunai. Not that he had expected it to be that easy, but he had to try.
“Shall we show him what happens to people like him?” one of the men asks with a sardonic smile.
Hidden by the mask, Obito returns it.
They jump at once, surrounding him in one fluid motion. Obito uses the moment before their feet touch the ground again to form the hand seals. It’s time to wipe off those smug smiles from their faces.
“Mokuton,” he begins, channelling his chakra.
Obito chokes on the next word. A painful throb forces his body off balance. He tilts forward and for a second he’s afraid he won’t be able to catch himself. Every nerve is attacked by a sudden jolt of pain. It’s not like anything he’s felt before and while by far not too agonising, since it came as a sudden flash and is over just as fast, it incapacitates him long enough to offer his enemies an opening. For a second he can neither breathe nor blink, whatever happened to him paralysed every muscle, as if a strong surge of Raiton had wandered through his body.
Had he unknowingly activated one of their traps? But how would that be possible? He had reached this place before them.
He grunts, forcing his body to obey his commands, regains his footing and let’s kamui save him from the first impact. Obito tries again and when he this time attempts to manipulate the terrain to attack the mercenaries with roots from underground, it actually works.
With that the fight is over fast. Afterwards he uses Mokuton to handcuff the injured and unconscious assailants. This should stop them from using hand seals for the foreseeable future. Now he just needed to make sure they were found by the right people.
Despite the victory, the usual feeling of elation doesn’t come. What had happened back there? Had he missed a jutsu? That shouldn’t be possible with activated Sharingan. Or had he simply underestimated them, resulting in unknowingly dropping his guard? It wouldn’t be the first time he behaved too reckless, because he felt too sure of himself.
Yeah… that had to be it…
Obito shakes his head angrily. Things like that were a rookie mistakes. All those victories must’ve gotten to his head. He needs to learn humbleness again, if he doesn’t want to pay for his carelessness. And he really couldn’t afford that, for Kakashi would never let him hear the end of it.
A small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth at the thought. There is no way to tell, when he will see Kakashi again, but Obito is already looking forward to sharing all of these experiences with him and learning about his.