Author Uozumi
Genre AU/Drama
Rating PG-13
Disclaimer I do not own nor claim to own this. The characters, ect...contained within are not my property. This is an act of fandom and I do not make a profit from this endeavor.
Summary Experimental jutsu brought him back into a world that believed him a ghost and in the presence of ninja who wanted to continue where they left off.
Chapter One
Chapter One
The group in shrouds carefully approached the day-old grave. Several stones lay haphazardly in a heap, messily marking out the grave.
“What condition do you think the body will be in?” one of the party asked.
“That is of no concern,” their leader spoke. “The first jutsu should restore the body and if that doesn’t work, there will be no use in testing what we came here for.”
Two of the men began removing the boulders working as quickly as they could. Once they uncovered the body, the group assessed it.
“It’s no good, Orochimaru-sama, certainly the entire right side has been crushed. I don’t know if we can even move the boulder to get at it.” The ninja adjusted his hood that kept the sun from touching his skin and masked his Hitae-Ate.
Orochimaru stood over the hole and surveyed the body. It was already starting to attract scavengers. One of his party blanched and another studied the boulder. “How should we move that?”
Orochimaru said nothing and went down into the pit. Walking right up to the boulder, he made a hand sign and then brought two fingers to the boulder. It instantly broke into several pieces exposing the other half of the Genin’s body. Some of the party began clearing the rubble while the leading medical ninja amongst them knelt by the boy’s carcass. “His bones are defiantly crushed along with half his skull. It’s going to take several exceptionally skilled med nins to fix this.”
“Then do it,” Orochimaru responded.
The lead medical ninja began breaking up the group of ten in half. The first half would try to piece the boy’s body back together, and then the second group would go in so that chakra could be conserved. “I know that it might not work, but if we can piece this boy back together and then bring him back to life, it will better all objectives,” the man explained. “Now, begin.”
Time passed as the teams worked. One member of each would use the most chakra so that all five in the group wouldn’t be in danger of burning out while working. The first objective was to regenerate the bones to create a frame work to start reconnecting the tendons and muscles. The skull and brain were the most delicate and left to the lead medical ninja and his apprentice. The skull reconstruction was the slowest, still looking deformed as the body team began reattaching muscles.
Orochimaru watched every move. He had to make sure that this could indeed be done just in case he ever needed such a thing. If he was going to try and capture tailed beasts, he would have to have a way to come back from death incase something went horribly wrong. It was entering the second day of reconstruction when finally, the lead medic ninja stood up and said, “We are ready to try and bring him back to life.”
Orochimaru looked down at the boy in the pit. The medic ninja had ruled out moving the body since many of the boy’s body was crushed. He wanted the bones to be relatively in the right spot. He had almost burnt his chakra out when he had to reconstruct the boy’s heart and right lung.
“Why are you hesitating?” Orochimaru looked to the man.
“It’s just…I think that it would be pointless for me to lose my life since clearly I am the superior doctor. Who will take care of you if I die?” the man pointed out, choosing his words carefully.
Orochimaru shook his head. “Do you actually expect to leave this area alive?”
“I understand,” the medic ninja sighed. “I will bring this boy back to life in exchange for my own to show you that it can be done.” Kneeling by the body, the man too a deep breath and then closed his eyes. Chakra began to stream from his hands onto the boy’s chest. The body remained pale and unresponsive as the color began to drain from the man’s cheeks. Gritting his teeth, the medical ninja pushes slightly down on the chest as though administering CPR, but still the body did not respond. “Dammit!”
“It doesn’t seem to be working, Orochimaru-sama,” the apprentice spoke up worriedly watching his sensei. “Should we stop?”
“No,” Orochimaru decided. “I must know if it can be done.”
“It’s too bad he didn’t have both eyes,” another said. “But he should be able to see out of the one we restored I think.” She folded her arms and watched as the main medic ninja’s face became ashen. “If it doesn’t happen soon, it will be for naught. It did give us good experience though, and proved that we can indeed restore a body.”
Orochimaru said nothing. His eyes merely narrowed as the medic’s body dropped on top of the boy, eyes open in the stare of death.
“I’ll check on the boy,” the apprentice offered. Stepping carefully back into the hole, he knelt by the body and began searching for a pulse or any remote sign of life. Standing up, he said, “Nothing. The boy is dead. There’s no chakra response anywhere.”
A second and third of the squad checked and corroborated the assessment. The body was complete, but it was still a husk. After the last report, Orochimaru’s face remained expressionless, but he turned away quickly. “We have other things to accomplish.”
“Will we report this to the Akatsuki?” one of the ninja asked.
“No, it’s best they don’t know what you have accomplished,” Orochimaru answered. “We should return to Konoha before we are missed.”
A small group gathered in a circle. The sky was blue and cloudless making their black uniforms hot and sticky. Closing her eyes, a brown haired girl took a few deep breaths. Ninja did not show emotion openly, especially around others. Standing beside her, a slightly younger ninja closed his only visible eye and bowed his head.
The group was mostly comprised of members from the Uchiha clan, but not the entire clan as was normally the custom. “…he was only beginning to awaken that potential,” a man with blonde hair finished speaking.
“Let us remember Obito for what he accomplished,” the boy’s father addressed the assembly. “May the luck of the Uchiha follow him into the next life and aid him to be a better person.”
That was the signal that the ceremony was over. Soon people began to leave until only the brown haired girl, boy with the hidden eye, and the blonde man remained.
“I am going to disband our team,” the man stated quietly.
“Why?” the boy looked to him. It seemed a bit melodramatic. There was still the three of them after all.
“In one week, I’m going to take over the position of Hokage,” the man explained. “It is customary to disband teams once only two remain.”
The teenagers grew quiet. “Congratulations, Sensei,” the girl said.
“I know it’s an inappropriate time to tell you, but I have to go through tests. I wanted you to know before the formal announcement and I don’t know when I will see you again before that happens,” he said.
“We understand,” the boy spoke up. “Congratulations.”
The sun was hot and made the dark fabric of his clothes burn against his skin. Opening his eyes, the teenager reached up and brushed some strands of dark hair out of his eyes. His body felt stiff and his joints felt like elastic that had been pulled too many times. He couldn’t open his left eye and reaching up, he felt a scar that extended down his forehead and cheek. It had healed his eye shut.
Sitting up, he heard his joints pop loudly and heard a noise to his left as his hand brushed something stiff. Turning his head, the boy gave pause and then stared. There was a dead body lying next to him, the eyes opened as though he had died for nothing. Looking away, the boy popped his knuckles and looked up at the top of the hole they were trapped in. For a second he saw a girl reaching out to him while a gray haired boy helped her up.
”OBITO!”
The name echoed through his head and he pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt sluggish and his memory was in pieces. Standing up gingerly, he popped his knees and ankles. That’s right. He was Uchiha Obito, almost fourteen years old. Looking to his right, he found a battered hitae-ate. Picking it up, he tied it around his forehead. He was a Genin from Konoha, the Hidden Leaf Village. He had Chûnin Exams in two months and he was in the middle of Stone territory.
Reaching up, he gripped one of the rocks in the pit and pulled himself up. It hurt to move, but he knew that he had to leave the area before enemy ninja spotted him. Testing his legs, he found walking a chore and knew better than to run. Frowning, he searched for a way to stick to the shadows and out of view.
“Kakashi?”
The gray haired teenager averted his eyes from over his shoulder to the girl walking beside him. “Never mind,” Kakashi murmured. Stuffing his hands deeper into his pockets, he asked, “What did you say?”
“I said that I’m not sure if I’m ready for the Chûnin Exams,” Rin commented, her brown hair blowing into her face in the warm late July breeze. “I know I passed the first round, but can I really be ready to fight?”
“You should do fine,” Kakashi murmured. She was being uncharacteristically insecure of her own abilities. Yet, he never really had paid attention to her, so perhaps she always had been insecure. “It’s not hard.”
“Right,” Rin murmured forcing a smile. “You’re right. I have to be able to protect myself anyway. It’s…” her voice trailed and then she said, “I have to get some things. I’ll see you later.”
“Okay,” Kakashi answered and watched her leave. Taking a few more steps, he paused and looked over at the gates to the city. He could hear raised voices, and it sounded like the guards were beginning to lose their tempers. Looking over his shoulder, he glanced at the gate with subdued curiosity. It didn’t seem like whoever was trying to get through was a threat. They most likely had the wrong papers.
“If you let me see – “ a voice protested.
“It doesn’t matter what papers you have, we can’t let you through,” one of the guards growled.
Kakashi walked a bit closer. Normally, he would be unconcerned with the disturbance, but there was something bothering him. He watched as the guards gave a swift push at the figure by the gate, giving him one last chance to leave. Freezing, for a second Kakashi could have sworn it was Obito.