Look in My Eyes

"Yo."

The man stood in the middle of the Ruins, wearing a black robe patterned with red clouds and a Tiger-Skin Mask.

Beneath the mask, a crimson Sharingan slowly turned.

"Quite a lively scene."

He glanced around at the bodies and Ruins strewn across the ground, a hint of mockery in his voice.

"I'm not too late, am I?"

Dead silence fell.

Every eye turned to the mysterious stranger who had appeared out of nowhere.

Obito Uchiha tipped his chin up slightly, hands tucked into his robe pockets, his stance casual.

He thought he had made a pretty impressive entrance.

Space had warped, and he had appeared from thin air when no one expected him. That was the kind of entrance Obito Uchiha deserved.

Ever since Rin died, he had kept too much bottled up.

He had worn a mask and hidden in the shadows, plotting everything like a rat.

Tonight, the Uchiha Clan Massacre was nearly complete. He had achieved his goal anyway.

Most of the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out, and Konoha was bound to fall into turmoil.

For his Eye of the Moon Plan, the situation could hardly have been better.

"Ahem."

Obito cleared his throat, ready to say a few words to establish his presence.

"Uchiha Itachi!"

A voice rang out, cold to the bone.

Shimura Danzō stepped forward and slammed his cane against the ground, glaring at Obito.

"What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Obito froze.

"Huh?"

He tilted his head, looking at Danzo, then at the Third Hokage.

These two old fossils...

Why are they looking at me like that?

They look like I murdered their entire families.

Hey, hey, they've got the wrong guy, right?

"I mean..."

Obito scratched the back of his head, sounding puzzled.

"Why are you two glaring at me like you hate my guts?"

He chuckled twice, as though telling a joke that wasn't particularly funny.

"What, did I murder your entire families?"

No one laughed.

The silence was terrifying.

Obito finally sensed something was wrong.

His gaze swept over everyone present: the Uchiha Survivors, members of the other ninja clans, the Anbu and Root ninja...

Every one of them looked at him strangely.

As though they were looking at a Monster.

"What's going on?"

Obito frowned.

This isn't right.

They shouldn't be looking at me like that.

They should be looking at Uchiha Itachi like that.

He turned to look at Uchiha Itachi.

Then he realized Itachi was looking back at him.

But that look... It was full of suspicion, scrutiny, accusation.

"You..."

Uchiha Itachi's voice was hoarse, his emotions held in check by sheer force.

"Why did you betray me?"

Obito's pupil contracted slightly.

"Betray you?"

He repeated the words, utterly baffled.

"What are you talking about...?"

"I'm asking you," Uchiha Itachi cut in, his voice icy. "My plan only called for you to intercept reinforcements from the Konoha Military Police Force. Who told you to slaughter the Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan?"

Obito: What?!

"And another thing." Uchiha Itachi fixed his Sharingan on Obito. "Sasuke... Were you the one who put him in that room?"

Obito's mind went blank for a second.

"Wh-what's going on?"

He sprang up, pointing at Uchiha Itachi, his voice rising an octave.

"What did you just say?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"I was at the Konoha Military Police Force the whole time, cleaning up your mess. When did I supposedly slaughter the Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan?!"

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly fell on the small body in Uchiha Fugaku's arms.

His voice cut off.

That...

That's...

Sasuke Uchiha?

Obito's pupil contracted sharply. His mind raced. Sasuke Uchiha was dead? Killed by Uchiha Itachi?

That was nothing like the events he knew.

No...

That's not right.

I didn't do this.

I never put Sasuke in that room.

Then who did?

Obito looked at Uchiha Itachi, then at Sasuke's body in Uchiha Fugaku's arms.

Behind his Tiger-Skin Mask, his eye was full of bewilderment.

What the hell... did I miss?

Just then—

A voice exploded with fury.

"That's him!"

A survivor of the Shimura Clan rushed out of the crowd, pointing a trembling finger at Obito.

"The mysterious man in the black robe with red clouds and the Tiger-Skin Mask!"

"That's him! He came to the Shimura Clan and slaughtered our people!"

The survivor screamed incoherently, tears mixing with snot.

"Yes! That's him!"

Another survivor, this one from the Sarutobi Clan, stepped forward with a ragged cry.

"He came to the Sarutobi Clan and slaughtered our people!"

"I recognize that eye! It's him!"

The crowd erupted.

"What?!"

"The Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan... He did it?"

"He's working with Uchiha Itachi?!"

"Then what Uchiha Itachi said earlier... was true?"

Whispers spread through the crowd.

Everyone's gaze darted between Obito and Uchiha Itachi.

"Well, well, Uchiha Itachi!"

Shimura Danzō's voice was as biting as a winter wind.

"And you claimed you hadn't sent him?"

"Now we've caught him red-handed. Let's see you talk your way out of this!"

The Uchiha Survivors began shouting too:

"Uchiha Itachi! What do you have to say for yourself?"

"You conspired with an outsider to slaughter other ninja clans, and you still want to deny it?!"

"Kill them! Avenge our dead!"

The crowd seethed with rage.

Uchiha Itachi did not look at them.

He only stared at Obito.

"Look me in the eyes."

His voice was soft.

"Answer me."

"Sasuke... Did you put him in that room?"

Obito was silent for several seconds.

Then he took a deep breath, and his voice steadied.

"I didn't put your brother there."

"And I didn't slaughter the Sarutobi Clan or the Shimura Clan."

"Someone impersonated me and slaughtered both clans."

He paused, his gaze settling on Itachi.

"As for your brother..."

He spoke slowly.

"There are many ways to bring the dead back to life."

He knew of one: with the Rinnegan, a person could use the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive the dead. Madara Uchiha had wanted to be brought back that way.

The words hung in the air.

Uchiha Itachi's body jolted.

A spark suddenly appeared in his eyes, which had been empty with despair.

"How?"

His voice trembled.

Uchiha Fugaku's pupils contracted sharply too, and his arms tightened around Sasuke without his realizing it.

Mikoto raised her head and looked at Obito through tear-blurred eyes.

Even the spies from the other ninja clans stood on tiptoe and strained to listen when they heard the word "revive."

"Bring back the dead?!"

"Is that even possible?"

"There's a ninjutsu like that in this world?"

Whispers rose again.

Shimura Danzō narrowed his eyes and listened closely.

Only Hiruzen Sarutobi's face changed drastically.

Could it be? That technique the Second Hokage created, recorded in the Scroll of Seals... Impure World Reincarnation!

The name flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.

Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

How could the Masked Man know that technique?

Could he...

Be connected to Orochimaru?

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not dare follow the thought. He whipped his head toward Obito, shock and wariness filling his eyes.

If the Masked Man really can use Impure World Reincarnation, if he truly can bring back the dead...

Then what happened tonight...

Countless images flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind: what Uchiha Itachi had said, the slaughter of the Shimura Clan and the Sarutobi Clan, the mysterious man who called himself Tobi...

Could it be...

Was his student Orochimaru truly behind all this?

Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands trembled slightly. He should never have let Orochimaru escape.

Just then.

"No!!!"

A piercing cry shattered the mood.

That voice...

It broke hearts and brought tears to every eye.

Everyone turned to look.

It was a boy from the Uchiha Clan.

He stood at the edge of the Ruins, gazing at the Uchiha Clan Compound with grief in his eyes.

His body trembled, his fists were clenched tight, and tear tracks covered his face.

"Why... why did this happen..."

His voice was hoarse, like the mournful whimper of a wounded young animal.

"What did our Uchiha Clan... ever do wrong..."

"Why... why would they do this to us..."

Tears slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the ground.

That boy was Uchiha En.

He stood beneath the moonlight, looking so sorrowful, so utterly despairing.

Just like an ordinary boy who had lost his family and home on Clan Massacre Night.

But where no one could see, the corner of his mouth curled up ever so slightly.