I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 24 | Two Faces

"Can you make it back?" Naruto asked once they were back in his timeline and Obito let go of his arm.

Obito didn't look as tired as he did the last time they'd come back from the future, but he was noticeably out of breath. He had done a lot of big jumps over the two days since the Kannabi mission began.

"Yeah, I'm good," Obito wheezed. "I'm just gonna hang out in kamui for a while so I don't have to walk home."

Naruto looked around. They were back on Mount Myoboku. It was approaching noon. So much had happened since they left his timeline, it felt weird being back home.

"Listen," Naruto said in a low voice, "I don't know what we're going to do about Madara, but without you, he's got no choice but to hide out in his cave. He won't have a reason to put Kakashi and Rin in danger if you stay away from him."

"Yeah, I know." Obito was avoiding his gaze.

"And we need to find a way to talk to your older self. When do you think you'll be coming back—"

"There  you are!"

The two jumped when Jiraiya landed down near them and straightened up to his full, imposing height.

"You're late!"

"I said I'd bring him back in a day!" Obito said. "It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet."

"That wasn't the agreement. What I understood was you'd bring him home at the end of the day. As in, yesterday." Jiriaya waggled his finger at them. "Besides, that should have been plenty of time for the team to make it back home. So? What went wrong this time?"

The two looked at each other. Obito shrugged.

Naruto turned to Jiraiya. "Those guys we fought during the mission came back. It wasn't a problem 'cause tou-chan was back with the team again. But the old man Sandaime wanted them to stick around in case it meant the surrender was going to be called off."

"That's strange. If I remember right, all the negotiations went smoothly after the battle. Maybe that part got left out of the official story. But with Obito not getting 'killed', who knows what might be different?"

"Everything's different," Obito said. "I'm okay with that. We just need to stay one step ahead. It'd be the same if we went in knowing nothing. Just like life."

"That's a surprisingly healthy attitude for someone who grows up with world-ending ambitions." Jiraiya laughed as if he'd made a great joke. "I'm glad the two of you made it back in one piece. What is the plan from here?"

"Go after whoever we can," Naruto said, punching his fist into his palm. "Have you found out anything while we were gone? About Sasuke, or Orochimaru, or the older Obito?"

"Possibly. I think it'll be easier to track the fake Madara now that we know who he really is and how his powers work. Do you think he can do the same thing as you? By going to other times, I mean," he asked Obito. "That would be a real headache to deal with."

Obito shook his head. He was fidgeting with his coat, pulling the zipper up and down along its track.

"He can't do it. My kamui is weird because of Orochimaru. Plus, my older self isn't as powerful as he could be, since he only has one of his original eyes."

"Ah. That would explain the one-eyed mask," Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "That's right. Kakashi has the other eye. I heard about that incident back when it happened—Minato really had to smooth things over with the Uchiha once Kakashi started making a name for himself with that Sharingan. I wonder if it's part of your older self's plan to take it back from Kakashi."