-Two days later, at the park-
Pov: Obito Uchiha.
As the sun sets on the park multiple people arrive to take there children home.
"What do I do Rin..." I ask with a heavy sigh.
I messed up, I shouldn't have taken his money and just left- why won't he answer the door? And why did he hide the spare key!
"I don't know... sorry Obito, I wish we could do something to cheer him up..." She sighs as well.
"What happened? You two are oddly grumpy" Kakashi flickers behind us and asks.
"Kakashi...? How is genin life?" I ask.
"Boring. I came here to see everyone but I suppose my job keeps me from coming any earlier" Kakashi sighs with an aloof expression.
"Takumi's grandfather died... we haven't seen him since it happened and don't know how to... help" Rin informs Kakashi who's eyes widen.
"Oh... that's... I am not sure I can help, sorry" Kakashi sits proper on the bench he flickered onto and rests with us.
"If only I knew where he put that spare key... I could get in and at least give an apology" I sigh and slump down into the bench.
"What about... breaking in?" Kakashi asks.
...
"We haven't learnt that in the academy yet... that's next year stuff" Rin says.
"Oh. I suppose my dad taught me that early... I can help" Kakashi offers.
"Good! Then lets go!" I stand up suddenly.
"Wait- Obito are you sure this is a good idea..?" Rin asks.
"What others do we have! Come on, let's not waste any time" I urge them along and they both follow me to his house.
*Knock!* *Knock!*
"See- won't open" I gesture to Kakashi who looks at me lazily.
...
*Click!*
Kakashi picks open the lock and then opens the door... all three of us enter inside and close the door behind us.
"Takumi? Are you there?" We ask.
...
We peek into the dining room and see stacks of paper on the table, behind them we see Takumi organizing them all.
Why are some of the pages bloody?
"Takumi...?" I enter.
"Obito" He replies as he licks his finger and flips through a small stack of pages.
"Hi Takumi... we didn't mean to disturb you..." Rin softly speaks.
"So you broke in. I will be back to the Academy next week, right now I am busy" He says coldly.
...
"That means you can leave" He doesn't look up.
"Takumi! I sincerely apologize for taking your money to buy Kakashi a present!" I bow my head and yell.
"I gave you the money. It was intended and no harm was done" I raise my head to see him scrunch his face at a page and then furiously scribble something out.
"Thank you for the gift" Kakashi states.
"Of course. Now leave me alone" He states coldly as he writes on that same page.
"Takumi..." Rin speaks softly.
"Haaaaa... fine. Sit down but do not disturb me- Obito I put the spare key in the kitchen" He tells me and I nod my head.
Kakashi looks to the exit and I sit down with Rin.
"Hatake, you can go- do not feel pressured by these two" Takumi states and flips through another small stack of papers.
...
"Kakashi..." Rin whispers to him and makes a pleading expression.
Kakashi's lazy eyes scan the room and dart to the door.
He sighs and sits down with us. Probably thinking about how he shouldn't have stopped by the park on his way home.
*Flip* *Scribble* *Scrawl*
Its an awkward silence in which we just listen to Takumi for a moment.
...
"May we ask what you are writing?" Rin breaks the silence.
"I am correcting mistakes I made when I wrote these things... hn. As expected its a ridiculous amount" He replies.
"What did you write?" She asks.
"Kenjutsu stuff. Take a peek if you want but this information stays on paper and doesn't leave this room understood?" He tells us with a commanding tone and Rin awkwardly glances to some of the papers.
"... Takumi... I am sorry about what happened" I say.
"It is alright Obito. You have nothing to apologize for, in fact I am the one who should apologise for making you worry" He replies softly and looks up for the first time.
"My grandma says she is happy to make food for you if you ever need it" I tell him.
"Thank her for me. But I am fine" He says.
"Takumi, if you need any help we are all here for anything" Rin says.
"Thank you. I would like some privacy still... for a moment that is all the help I need" He smiles at her and she nods... and gets up.
Me and Kakashi follow.
"Get home safe" He says and we all bow before leaving.
...
*Click*
Kakashi locks the door and we stand there for a moment.
"That was... he looked so..." Rin struggles to find a word.
"He looked completely different, like someone else..." I state.
"He reminded me of an old desk ninja I saw the other day..." Kakashi adds.
"Thank you Kakashi, without you we wouldn't have been able to confirm he was okay" Rin bows her head.
"It's fine... I was just going to train when I get home anyway" He shrugs his shoulders.
-One week later-
Pov: Takumi Uchiha.
"So he is back to normal..." Obito comments thinking I cannot hear him.
No. I am not- in fact I am pretending to sleep instead of actually sleeping, I just... can't- not for a bit at least.
I didn't know Takumi Uchiha that well, my caretaker was barely home and I slept through most of my early interactions with him... but...
...I knew him just as much as I knew my wife and I was angered by that fact.
I wasn't just struck with the grief of my Caretakers death... I was struck with the understanding that I won't see anyone I knew in my last life ever again.
In all practical applications they are dead.
My wife.
My friends.
My Oldman.
My empire.
Dead.
And the fact that this Elder from another world could claim to know me better than my wife... irks me.
Had he lived he may have known me as well as my actual Old man... maybe I would have given him a nickname similar to the Old man.
...
The whole thing is just upsetting really.
Apparently that cloud shinobi was the same one that killed my parents- he snuck in to kill my caretaker too... his plan was to actively be caught by the police... and arrive in that cell at the same time my Caretaker goes to deliver his reports.
...
Apparently that Shinobi had a grudge against the old caretaker and made it his life's mission to kill him and his loved ones- I bet he didn't expect me to exist... as this was his final plan before willingly going to T&I.
Such a shame to see another man caught up in vengeance, I hold no grudge against the fool and will only test his compatibility to my cruelty if I ever chance upon him.
If he... is fine then that is fine.
I got over revenge a long time ago and learnt its uncontrollable fiery lesson.
Burns everyone. Helps no one.
Tch. Best not get too into this again, I keep thinking on it and I should just move past it- focus on the now and not the past.
"Let's try and study at his house today" Rin encourages Obito.
"Hn- its now or never" Obito agrees.
"Don't treat my momentary sadness as a trial to overcome, I told you I would be back to normal this week- you may pester me for help once more" I yawn and tell them.
"Pester? I would never" Obito shakes his head.
"Of course Obito" I roll my eyes and look at the board.
"What are we learning today?" I ask them.
"The will of fire" Obito says.
"Fire? Too hot, count me out" I joke and rest my head once more.
"Oi-" Obito slaps my shoulder.
"Yes Obito?" Sensei calls out at Obito's distraction.
"Uhhh... nothing" He shrinks back down and I smile.
-After Class-
"Wait- what happened to all the art and stuff on the walls?" Obito asks as he looks around.
"That is my Caretakers art- it would be dishonourable to show off someone else's essence when they are dead" I tell them.
"Is it...?" Obito says but gets smacked on the back by Rin.
Right... no Aura, meaning an entirely separate culture- I suppose flaunting the art and life of those that are dead is not as bad here.
Should I hang his stuff up again...? No- that doesn't sit right with me.
We all sit in my dining room, a much cleaner room than even when my caretaker was alive... since I have removed almost everything except for necessities.
"Wow... it is... an interesting decorating choice, if you did make a choice that is" Obito jokes and gets another smack.
"Sit down and do your studying thing" I yawn and lay my head upon the table, I need to get more sleep at night.
"Now hold on- you are part of this studying thing too! So participate!" Obito commands me with an awkward tone.
"No" I refuse.
"Hahaha..." Rin awkwardly laughs but gestures towards Obito to calm him down.
"Do you want to go over what we did in class today?" Rin asks Obito.
"Nah~ I have heard the will of fire like fifty million times already" Obito waves his hand.
As they continue to talk about various topics that slowly drift from study- I think about my Form A.
Lets recap what I got.
I have the starting's of a jutsu... all it does right now is hold my body in place but I have plans for that jutsu to slowly become better over time- I just need to constantly work on it... might need to make a cover for why I am concentrating on my chakra so much.
I am planning to develop that state of still self to absorb impacts- make myself stiff and have my chakra move the impact away from my body... the stiffness was not intended but for all my chakra points to carry that impact away quickly they need to stop moving and let the chakra inside transfer it, without interruption. It has a flaw of needing to be perfectly timed... but flaws like those are only flaws for those who are not me.
But enough about the prototype jutsu- Form A's string of movements are all choreographed to be defensive in nature... since this is my first unique sword style in the new world I wanted to step first with a less aggressive form.
Of course we will get to Form C later...
... Form A's defensive move sets are all aggressive in a way anyway, hitting the incoming attacks and setting the enemy off balance- I am prepared to change it into a heavy parry form rather than just taking impacts.
Though it all depends on my prototype jutsu.
"And so that's how I got my lucky coin" Obito smiles.
"Where is it now?" Rin asks.
...
"I... lost it" He scratches the back of his head.
"Chakra flow... how do I improve it?" I ask them interrupting their conversation.
"Hm?" Obito blinks at me.
"I wouldn't know sorry... maybe the leaf concentration technique?" Rin offers.
"Put that down on the list of questions to ask" I tell them.
"Okay... any follow ups?" Obito starts writing a note.
"How to apply chakra to certain unseen things- for example, Impacts. How do we soften impacts when landing via the body flicker? Is there a defensive jutsu that expands on that? And also ask about the specifics in how one softens landings as we see ninja fly around on rooftops all the time but not destroy any of those rooftops" I ask Obito and he nods as he takes down notes.
"I never really thought about that part of high speed movement techniques..." Rin comments.
"Of course, it is not the main feature" I nod my head sagely.
...
Yes- before I begin more tests I need more knowledge, I should try and gain access to more clan jutsu... I was only given my caretakers kenjutsu and taijutsu scrolls after all and they do not expand on what I wish to know.
I also need to somehow get out of the academy without my Caretakers help... I was pretty reliant on that but as we get closer to graduating it will be much more difficult to deny training- especially when it comes from the clan itself.
Thanks for reading! :)