In another Timeline

Chapter 51- Keyhole

I had this chapter done yesterday. Just needed like- 100- 200 more words bruh 😭. Now I have to restart :'). So I'm sorry if this is not posted a day after I did the previous chapter.
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Kakashi was headed to the Hokage tower, he wanted to tell Minato or Kushina what he saw but he stopped a couple blocks short to really think about it.

Obito showed that emotion to someone else not him, not Minato not Rin nor Kushina. Is it really Kakashi's place to tell them? Tell them that Obito isn't just some dead inside person they thought him to be?

Kakashi stood in thought for a long time. A sudden ringing in his ears brought him back to the real world and not just his thoughts. He didn't know what it was but it hurt.

Kakashi deadpanned in the direction he thought it came from but when he tried to listen to see if he could hear it again he found out he in fact couldn't hear anything. His ear drum miraculously burst without him feeling it or even noticing the warm blood dripping down his neck onto the ground.

Kakashi looked around trying to find the source. Something shouldn't be so loud as to completely burst his ear drums but when he looked around everyone else had blood dripping down their ears.

Some were confused, some panicked others didn't even seem to notice. How can something so important, like hearing go unnoticed when taken away? How it is painless is perhaps a better question.

Without warning several masked Shinobi jumped through the roofs. Kakashi made an effort to follow them but they masked their chakra well and without hearing the already close to silent footsteps he had no chance to give chase. They had already gone by the time he had climbed the building.

Kakashi looked through the village but he was only met with the same confused Shinobi.

Suddenly someone grabbed his shoulder, there was Minato, the same dried blood exited both his ears.

He looked serious, of course he looked serious. He lost his hearing and now groups of Shinobi were storming the village. The look of the plan seemed to be to confuse any shinobi patrolling and get whatever they needed and run.

A cowardly plan in Kakashi's opinion.

They didn't look familiar they wore no headbands. Rouge?

The same thoughts must have gone through Minato's thoughts. The only hearing either of them were capable of seemed to be the loud ringing that made them deaf in the first place.

Minato motioned for Kakashi to follow and he did as he was told. Now he really couldn't tell Minato what had happened.

This whole attack came out of nowhere.

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Obito glanced to his side as Sasuke groaned. Sasuke had left a bit ago didn't he? Obito followed where he heard Sasuke and found him covering his ears. Blood was dripping on both sides.

"What happened Sasuke?" Obito said but Sasuke only made a surprised face. "I can't... I can't hear you!" He yelled probably too loud. But it confirmed the fact he couldn't hear.

Obito furrowed his eyebrows. Even if Obito wanted to question him he couldn't.

He smiled and mostioned for Sasuke to follow him. The best he can do is get him to a doctor right?

Sasuke followed Obito looking around cautiously. Sasuke was definitely smart for his age. He knows better than to think something like this happened to out of the blue. But if it was loud enough to burst Sasuke's ear drums shouldnt he have heard it to?

Obito dismissed the thought, not the time to ponder what had happened.

But when he came to the village almost everyone had bleeding ears. Obito furrowed his eyebrows.

Before he knew it he saw a group of Shinobi approaching him. Why him of all people? Obito could probably guess but he didn't like the most likely answer.

"Tobias." Obito straighted himself out of instinct and so did the others. They looked warily around them.

"We were curious." One of them began before they stopped. They saw Sasuke.

What seemed like to be the leader took his mask off. It had been one of his generation that he never managed to find the name of.

"We hope that you ran successfully from the organization. Regardless you are registered as imprisoned by the leaf. we came to make sure." Obito's eyes widened in surprise. They came to check in him? Really?

Obito wasn't convinced but he didn't say his thoughts.

"Why would I be?" They seemed stunned at the question. "Are you not aware the organization we came from has no people left in it? All of them are dead." They were quiet for a long while.

"So you have went back." The so called leader grinned widely while he put his mask back on. "That is all I needed to know." That was the last thing he heard from them.

Obito wasted no time. His so called old friends  not the people he knew. They were zombies who followed orders out of fear.

They dived for Sasuke. They knew it they had no chance against 'Tobias'.

Obito made quick hand signs and before roots even sprouted from the ground Obito threw Sasuke out of the way.

His branches were unpredictable he had little to no control whatsoever when it came to his wood style.

Before he knew it a yellow flash grabbed him and he was away from his branches. The ones that would have impaled him.

He looked at Minato with a confused expression but minato only replied with a smile. He had dried blood dripping from his ears.

Kakashi had the same dried blood as well.

"I've never seen your wood style in action like this before... It's dangerous." Minato said with a frown.

Obito didn't understand the worry he would recover just fine. He would have been impaled on his left side anyway.

"Can you hear?" Obito decided to start off with he didn't want anything he said to go unheard.

Minato shook his head. "I cannot hear right now, maybe in half an hour the ringing will have subsided." Obito nodded. Then Minato was only speaking what he knew about to say.

Obito turned his direction to Sasuke. His eyes were wide and he was covered in dirt with a scrape on his elbow.

Before Obito could ask if he was alright another Uchiha appeared seemingly worried for Sasuke. He looked back and saw minato bowing slightly.

Sasuke seemed overjoyed at the sight of what Obito guessed was someone close. He had curly hair, someone he didn't really recognize.

"So... You have been looking after Sasuke?"  The mysterious Uchiha smiled. He had no blood dripping from his ear. Was he that far away?