Crossroads (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Benefits Of Kidnap

***I changed the circumstances around Rin's death to fit my story. So although I'm saying it like it's from canon, it's actually not really how it went in the original. If you're confused, you can go and see what really happened in canon compared to what I said it was. You could say my canon is canon - fanfic. I just wanted to let you know for those who might call me out on the difference.***

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Father didn't speak a word to me even as we made our way back home. Thankfully, he no longer had the will to drag me as he did the first time. From the Hokage's words, that was punishment. What a roundabout way to go about it.

Mother made sure I was alright, but I could tell that she already knew I wasn't going to be hurt. Father may be strict and very, very scary when angered, but I was his flesh and blood. Even after that one time he had attacked me, he had apologized (in his own put out way) despite his pride, and I had faith in his love. Although I was still trying to understand Father's actions the first time, I understood why Father was angered at my silence this time around. The knowledge I had was dangerous. It made me suspicious. It made me a target. It put me in danger, especially when I was right.

Itachi made sure to stay close to me for the rest of the day and I was thankful for his presence. To have him besides me calmed my frantic nerves and gave me the measure I needed to really put together what I'd just realized. The details were askew from what I knew from the show. After a few grueling hours of reworking my thoughts, I recognized that my mind wasn't spacious enough to organize all the details. I needed to get this down on paper, sort it out to clear my head, and think further.

So, in the evening as Itachi attended school and mother worked downstairs, I sat in my room with a pen in hand and a paper lied out in front of me on Itachi's study table. They were tools I had taken from his drawer. He always kept spares even when he never lost a single pen. The paper was filled with writing from my old language. I shouldn't have been so surprised that I still retained my fluency of my past language. I had spent near seventeen years reading and writing English. Four years wasn't enough to make me forget what was so constant in my past life.

It took me a day or two to remember what I felt was right about the original events of the show. Madara had kidnapped Rin - I couldn't remember exactly how, but Zetsu came to the forefront as my suspected culprit - as well as the Mist's Jinchuuriki to seal the Sanbi into her. When or how Madara had managed to inform Kiri of her whereabouts and gotten Kakashi into rescuing her at the same time was a mystery. He made it seem as if Mist was responsible for the whole incident so Obito had no suspicions against him for his part in Rin's death. All this to force Obito into the Curse of Hatred. However, now Mist was truly responsible. Why was it different this time around? I couldn't think of a possible explanation.

It was a few days after I first started to note down my ideas - notes I hid under my mattress - that I was visited by the most unexpected guest. Obito loomed over me, every inch of his exposed skin, bare his scarred face, were wrapped in bandages. His hair was long enough to reach the base of his spine and the way they spiked in every which way was a bit fascinating. I could only stare. "So... this kid saved me?" His voice sounded gravelly.

Rin laughed as she took a hold of his arm and dragged him further into the house when Mother urged them to come inside. Kakashi was a quiet presence who lurked in the background and I turned my gaze to him as if he could give me some kind of explanation to all the alarm bells in my head. Why was he here? Was he okay enough to be here? Useless, Kakashi was, when he merely stood as still as a statue.

"Don't just stand there Satsuki. Keep them company since they came to visit you." Mother said.

I had no choice but to comply. I stared as they settled themselves around the dining table, all chatty and awkward. There was an odd tenseness to the air around them. "He did save you, technically. If he hadn't told Minato-sensei that you were alive, we would never have found you." Rin's voice wavered as she spoke.