Madara and Zetsu
"...Next, ninjas who passed the assessment, please come forward to collect your documents."
Obito patiently sat through five minutes of droning announcements.
Once he had his documents,
he hurried home.
Grandmother heard him come in
and stepped out of the house, smiling.
"Obito, how did your exam go today? Did you pass?"
Obito pulled a stack of papers from his jacket and thrust the whole lot at Grandmother.
"Of course! Your grandson's a Chunin now."
"Take a look at the proof. I've got something to do, so I'll talk to you later."
With that,
Obito ran off to get ready for a bath.
Time was tight.
He had to bathe, change, and make himself look his best!
Seeing him in such a rush, Grandmother laughed and scolded him.
"Slow down. You're always rushing about."
She went back inside for her reading glasses and studied the papers.
"My grandson's a Chunin now. He's really made something of himself..."
"But this photograph is awful. My grandson's so handsome. How did they make him look like a little squash...?"
Half an hour later,
Obito had combed his hair into a grown-up style and put on a sharp-looking top.
Then he headed out.
A cold gust hit him outside.
Only then did Obito realize—
"Holy shit, I forgot my damn pants!"
By the time Obito had everything sorted out and rushed toward the Small Grove,
he discovered, to his dismay,
that he was going to be late again.
"I need Kamui! Or Flying Thunder God!"
The grove was quiet and peaceful at night.
Branches swayed gently in the evening breeze, as though beckoning to travelers who would never return.
"Huff, huff, huff~"
Obito jogged to their usual training spot.
A familiar soft voice greeted him.
"Obito-kun, you're late again!"
"Lin-chan..."
Obito's eyes lit up, and he picked up his pace.
But when he arrived,
the sight before him stopped him cold.
"Minato-sensei, Kisuke-sensei, Kakashi, Guy, Shikaba... What's everyone doing here?"
A plaintive voice spoke up.
"Obito-kun, I'm here too..."
Obito scratched his head awkwardly.
"Haha, sorry, Ayako. I didn't see you just now..."
A faint smile played on Shikaba's lips.
"Rin and Minato-sensei got everyone together to celebrate you finally becoming a Chunin."
Hey! I helped too!
Kakashi's eyes went flat as he screamed inwardly.
Obito was so moved that his eyes grew moist.
"Everyone..."
Rin walked over with a smile and took Obito's hand.
"We all brought you presents, too. Here, I sewed this Ninja Tool pouch myself."
She pressed a small package into Obito's hand.
Minato smiled and handed Obito a book.
"This is my favorite book. Give it a read when you have time."
Kisuke gave Obito a new pair of Goggles.
Ayako's gift was a brand-new set of Shuriken.
"Obito-kun, I bought you a set of training weights. We can do the dra—"
Obito cut Guy off before he could finish.
"Okay, I get it. Thanks, Might Guy."
Shikaba held up a small box.
"A chess set. Come find me whenever you want to play."
"Oh, right..."
He pulled a Kunai from his jacket and handed it to Obito along with the box.
"This is Nami's gift for you."
Obito took the box and Kunai, stunned.
"No way. Nami actually got me a present?"
He picked up the Kunai and examined it.
It was brand-new, with a sharp blade.
Except the words "Dead Last" were engraved across it.
Obito clicked his tongue.
Yep, that was Nami's style...
Holding an armful of gifts, he bowed deeply to everyone.
"Thank you, everyone. Really, thank you!"
Shikaba smiled.
"Come on, you don't have to be so formal!"
Ayako chimed in.
"Exactly, Obito-kun. Not with us."
Kisuke offered a word of encouragement.
"Keep working hard, Obito. Don't let one achievement go to your head."
"Minato and I will head off now. We'll leave you young people to it."
The kids hurried to say goodbye.
"Goodbye, Kisuke-sensei! Goodbye, Minato-sensei!" Some called him "senior" instead.
After waving off the two adults,
Shikaba stretched lazily.
"You three can talk. Ayako and I are off too. Nami's waiting for us to have a late-night snack."
Obito nodded and patted him on the shoulder.
"Sure. Let's have tea sometime."
Rin waved her little hand.
"Bye, Shikaba! Bye, Ayako~"
Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow in farewell.
After Shikaba and Ayako left,
the Small Grove, lively just moments ago,
held only Obito and the other two.
Obito looked at Rin beside him, gratitude filling his eyes.
"Sorry for all the trouble tonight, Lin-chan."
No one had ever done anything like this for him before.
I must mean even more to Lin-chan now, he thought.
Kakashi: "(｀^´) Hmph!"
Obito shot him a glance.
"(￢‸￢) What are you hmphing about? Where's my present?"
Kakashi snorted again.
"Didn't get one!"
Rin sighed helplessly.
There they go again...
She stepped between them to smooth things over.
"Obito-kun, Kakashi did a lot to help bring everyone together today."
Obito gave Kakashi a thoughtful look.
"Oh, I see... I got you wrong."
Kakashi snorted yet again, though his expression softened.
"..."
The three chatted as they walked and soon reached the edge of the grove.
The quiet street was already visible through the trees.
Just then,
Kakashi pulled out a thin slip of something
and tucked it into Obito's jacket.
Then he strode away without looking back.
"Hey, you...!"
"Kakashi...?"
At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass,
a sizable base lay hidden deep beneath the level ground.
A fearsome demonic statue loomed in its grand hall.
On a stone chair before it
sat a white-haired old man with his eyes closed.
His cheeks were deeply sunken, his body painfully thin.
Without someone to tell them, who would have guessed
that this frail old man, seemingly at death's door,
was Madara Uchiha—the demon who had once rampaged through the Shinobi World and left bloodshed in his wake?
"What was that...?"
Madara slowly opened his eyes. A flicker of alarm passed through them.
Just moments ago,
he had suddenly felt a power inside him being drawn away!
The force of that loss had jolted him awake.
"Lord Madara, is something wrong?"
A pitch-black figure rose from the ground and asked in confusion.
Madara searched his senses carefully, then slowly shook his head.
"It's nothing. Perhaps I imagined it..."
The pitch-black figure raised his head
and made a shocking discovery.
Inside Madara's body,
that person's Chakra was gone!
How... how was that possible?!
Madara Uchiha was still alive. How could that Chakra have left him?
In all these centuries, this had never happened!
Madara seemed to notice the dark figure's reaction.
His brow furrowed slightly.
"What is it, Black Zetsu?"
Black Zetsu hid his emotions well, lowered his head, and replied respectfully.
"Nothing's wrong, Lord Madara. Since you're all right, I'll take my leave."
"Mm."
Madara answered flatly, then closed his eyes again.
Through the three tubes behind him, he drew in the life force supplied by the Demonic Statue.
Black Zetsu watched Madara fall asleep.
His black face darkened further.
A faint unease stirred in his heart.
He had manipulated the Shinobi World from the shadows for a thousand years.
For the first time, he felt that things were slipping beyond his control.
[We've hit 100,000 words, brothers! How about a good review?~~]