Chapter 11 - The boy who saved me

Yomi looked at the man sitting on the decrepit throne. "Who the fuck are you?"He wasn't shocked by her words, or rather—he didn't have the energy to be shocked."Why did you come here? To kill me?""If I wanted to kill you, I would've taken the front door. Why would I almost kill myself by drowning in dirt?" she grumbled as she dusted her robes to the best of her ability. "I won't ask again. Who are you?""I am..." he paused as if waiting for dramatic effect. "Madara Uchiha.""...Who?"This time he was shocked. "What do you mean, who? Don't they teach you about me in history class?""Oh... I'm not from around here, so I don't really know.""So you're not here to kill me. For a second, I thought they found out about me.""I get it, you must have been an asshole to get hunted down enough to hide here. Well, since I'm here, you might as well tell me your story. It doesn't seem like you meet people often; you're so awkward..."Her words made him laugh. When was the last time he laughed? "If I tell you that, I'd have to kill you."Yomi shrugged, sitting down with her legs crossed. "I've never been afraid of death, and I won't start now because some decrepit old man said so.""Decrepit... Old..." Like two arrows piercing his heart, she was ruthless. "Alright, fine."She knew he never had plans of letting her go; after all, nobody hides underground for no reason.Madara told his story, from the formation of Konoha to his current predicament. The only thing Yomi could think of was why he was so hell-bent on gaining power. Was the world ever this interesting to want world peace?"I don't get it. You want a successor to start a war to bring peace?""Don't say it like that. You make it sound stupid.""Oh, my bad then.""So, are you going to try and stop me?" he asked."Why would I?" Yomi crossed her arms. "I don't really care whether or not you get world peace. It has nothing to do with me."This was his first time meeting someone so... lax? Especially when it came to the end of free will, it seemed like he forgot not everyone gives a shit."You're dying anyway. I doubt you could do much harm."Another laugh escaped his lips. "I'm looking for my successor. Someone who can take my place.""For someone so powerful, I guess even you can't escape death.""You make it sound easy.""Should I help you?"He scoffed; her words were becoming more absurd. "How can you help? You barely even knew who I was, and you have the worst chakra stores I've seen.""My lack of knowledge doesn't mean I am incompetent.""That's exactly what it means. Knowledge is power. You, who knows nothing, will step on a bomb one day which will destroy you. Even if you are not afraid of death, your family is."Family?When did she ever have something like that? She was a murderer in her past life; there is no way anyone would step up and claim her as family."I am a very selfish person, Madara. Caring for others isn't something I'm capable of."Her words were genuine. Behind all her choices are selfish reasons; she has never made a choice with another person in mind."You... If you offer to help me, what is your selfish reason?""Oh, isn't it simple? I want you to live.""... That's it?"Yomi shrugged. "I was brought here for a reason, so I might as well see what's up in this corner of the world.""How will you help me?""I can give you youth.""How...?""Is that really the question you should be asking."He was silent, pondering. If she had any ulterior motives, he would be able to just kill her."What do you want me to do?"───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────"Kisame!"Kisame snapped out of his trance, looking at his teacher who seemed angry. Why was she mad?"Are you even paying attention? Your genin exams are coming soon! Do not forget only one of you will survive."He knew that. Who didn't know? This place wasn't called the Bloody Mist for nothing. They were all children, yet they would be forced to battle brutally with one another till there was only one man standing.The other children snickered, talking amongst themselves. Kisame scrunched up the paper on his desk, his heart full of turmoil.After school, he walked home alone."I'm home," he said out of habit."Welcome home, young master." The servants greeted him. Kisame nodded and went to the parlor as he always did. She was normally sitting there by the low table, working on one thing or another. Some days she did flower arranging, other days she studied, and sometimes she practiced her blood art. But today, her spot was empty.Kisame dragged himself to his room and changed into his training uniform. Kakuzu wasn't there to teach him, but he had a set of exercises to do daily. He picked up the sword and trained till evening, then ended his day with dinner.Normally, his days were like this—dull and monotone when she wasn't around. Today was different."Wow, you're very disciplined. I'm sure she would be very happy."Yuma's presence didn't startle Kisame. He wiped the sweat off his brow and turned to the Mizukage who had dropped in unannounced."Kage-sama, what brings you here?""Just call me Yuma. I came to check up on you. The genin exams are coming up, and I wanted to make sure you were ready."Kisame nodded. "Then would you mind sparring with me?""Naturally."───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────In a secluded training ground within the Uchiha district, a young boy stood, sweat on his brow, his hands held up in a hand sign."Again!"He tried again, his hands moving quickly as he tried to summon the Great Fireball Jutsu, but to no avail.He collapsed to the floor in frustration, his hands grabbing his hair. He wanted to give up; this wasn't working.At fourteen years old, Obito was tired of always being one step behind. His dark eyes swirled with dissatisfaction. This wasn't enough for him. His unruly black hair framed his face, the red and white Uchiha crest on the back of his training shirt stood out boldly, a reminder of his obvious shortcomings.Obito's breath came in heavy bursts as he repeated the hand seals for the Great Fireball Jutsu. Sweat dripped down his forehead, his brow furrowed in concentration. His young muscles ached from the effort, but he refused to give up. If he gave up now, it would prove them all right.He gritted his teeth, channeling his chakra with all his might.Before he could release his jutsu, a large splash interrupted his concentration. Startled, he inspected the pond before him and, to his alarm, saw a girl's body floating to shore.At first, he thought it was a dead body, but she was obviously breathing. Her kimono was drenched, and her skin was so pale she looked almost dead. Her body shivered in the cold, and he immediately tried to warm her up.He flinched; her skin was cold, like a block of ice."Just hang on!" he whispered in panic as he rushed her out of the training grounds.Yomi opened her eyes to see darkness. She was in an endless void of nothing."Why did you think that was a good idea?" Shi asked, looking at her like she was crazy."Well, I needed an easier way to get around, though I'm not sure where I ended up."Shi sighed in exasperation. "Don't do that again unless absolutely necessary. What happened if something went wrong?"Yomi shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen? I don't care about dying."Shi looked at her, unsure of what to say. Her nonchalance for human life was something she had always expressed."You're not afraid of anything, are you?"In fact, Shi knew her death would have no consequences in this world. She would just be forgotten to time, and people would move on without her. "Just try not to do anything stupid..." When Yomi teleports, she erases her existence and rewrites it, effectively dying and coming back to life. But if one day something went wrong, then she would just cease to exist."Fine, I won't do that often. You can release me now," she said, rolling her eyes. Shi didn't know how to reply. She had always been this way."$-#&#+$, when will you stop this?" This time Shi's voice trembled. "I told you I'm sorry, so why can't you just live like a normal person?" They felt her disregard for life was simply too much."Do you remember when we were little?" Yomi began.Shi nodded."The feeling of fresh blood on my hands. At that point in time, I didn't realize how fragile human life was. I killed somebody, and funny enough, it meant nothing.""#&$#-...""My name is Yomi now. Let it go.""It wasn't your fault."Wake up.Her eyes opened slowly, revealing a gray ceiling above her. Where was she?"You're awake!"Her attention shifted to the boy next to her. She slowly sat up, groaning in pain. She had a splitting headache."Thank you for saving me," she said quietly, bowing her head slightly in gratitude. His cheeks brightened as he scratched the back of his head nervously."It's alright! I was just surprised to see a girl in the pond, ya know? Especially a civilian. What are you doing in the Uchiha district?""It was an accident," she replied, offering a half-truth. "Who are you anyway?""Well, I'm Obito Uchiha! I'm the man that's gonna be the next Hokage!"Yomi sweat-dropped, what kind of introduction was that?"Uchiha, huh? So you guys still exist?" When she met Madara, she thought he was the last Uchiha or something dramatic, but there was a whole clan of them."Why wouldn't we?" he asked, confused."Ugh, never mind... My name is Yomi. Nice to meet you."A huge grin appeared on his face. "Nice to meet you!" He was so bright, it was blinding.Like Yahiko.Yomi tried to get out of bed, but stepping on the floor met with a wave of dizzy spells, so she sat her ass back down."Hey, careful. You were really cold; you probably haven't fully recovered yet... If you don't mind, you can stay as long as you want. I need to go join my team for a training session.""You're a shinobi?" Yomi asked, a bit shocked that someone this young was a full-fledged shinobi. Was that even safe?"Yup! I'm a chunin too!" He said that with so much pride, it made her lip twitch."Are people allowed to watch your training sessions?""I don't see why not! But you can't walk?"Like that, she ended up staying in a stranger's apartment alone. Obito had quite a lot of books, so she was able to look through them. This was Konoha, one land away from her destination. When she left the underground cave, she had tried to just get out of there but instead ended up here. It begged to reason that Madara's cage was close enough in the vicinity.Stepping into the kitchen, Yomi was taken aback. It was so messy. She considered just leaving, but then realized she could pay him back easily by cleaning up the house.Yomi wondered if it was normal in this world for children to live alone. Even she didn't live alone; her trusted adult was Kakuzu... though unwillingly."There. Spotless."The entire house was so clean, it was literally shining. Yomi went to the fridge to get some food only to find it empty. How the heck did this kid live??She sighed and put on her now dried kimono and slipped out to look for a grocery store.By the time she came back, she wondered if she should cook for him.Somehow, in the process of repaying her debt, she became a... housewife?Taking the hot lunch, she went to the balcony, spreading her wings to fly."Obito!"Obito looked up to see Yomi flying towards him with a basket."Yomi? How did you find me?"How indeed. This village was bloody huge; it took her 30 minutes to pinpoint him."I brought you lunch, Obito," she said, putting down the basket and pulling out flasks and bowls. "For your team too."He began to blush as he scratched his head nervously."Hn, the idiot got a girlfriend? What?" His teammate, a silver-haired shinobi, asked.Yomi laughed awkwardly. She barely knew the guy, and besides, she was loyal to Yahiko, probably."Obito, why not introduce us?" The adult asked. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was completely Yomi's type!Obito introduced her to his team. Yomi's eyes were glued to Minato the entire time. So she had a thing for older men. She wondered if he was single.Her afternoon was spent with the team, and after training, she got to walk back with Obito who had a grin on his face like he was completely satisfied. She found it all amusing. She had never met a shinobi team before, and truthfully, it was nice being with others her age."Hey, Obito, I have a question... Is your sensei single?"Her words stopped him in his track. "Eh!?""Well, you see... He's completely my type!" Her eyes were so wide they had stars in them.Obito felt his world clash. "Ah... I don't know," he said, dejected. So her type was older guys, huh?"He was so handsome and strong, and tall. OMG!" She said with hearts in her eyes.At least she wasn't into Kakashi. A win is a win, right?Obito burst out laughing. "Thank you for getting me food, Yomi-chan."Yomi pulled out her hand and instinctively patted his head. "Anytime."He flushed under her touch, his heart racing."I'll have to go now," she said."Right now? But it's late," he said, urging her to stay."Be a good boy, Obito.."Obito's eyes widened in shock as she spread her wings. As she unfurled them, they caught the light, revealing a magnificent span of pristine white feathers that shimmered in the fading sunlight.For a moment, Obito felt like he was in the presence of a celestial being, an angel descended from the heavens.Her wings extended fully, creating a gentle breeze that rustled the leaves around them. The sheer majesty of the sight left Obito speechless, his mouth agape."I'll see you again soon."He was speechless and stood shocked as she flew away, her wings cutting through the air with grace and power.Holy shit! She was an angel!He was so shocked he walked the rest of the way home in silence, his mind fried from the vision of her wings. Each step felt surreal as he replayed the moment over and over, she definitely wasn't a civilian.When he finally unlocked his door, he was greeted by the soothing scent of lavender. The sight that met his eyes was equally surprising—his apartment was spotless, every surface gleaming, and his usually empty fridge was now fully stocked. A small note was stuck to the fridge door:'Try not to live like a pig! Here is some food for the week!'Obito's heart shook as he read the note. He silently sat down at the table, feeling an unfamiliar warmth spread through him. He opened one of the containers she had left and took a bite of the food inside.The moment the taste hit his tongue, a wave of emotion crashed over him. Tears welled up in his eyes, spilling down his cheeks. The food was delicious."Thanks for the food..." he whispered, his voice choked with emotion.Tears streamed down his face as he continued to eat.Yomi didn't know it, but that was the first time he had come home to a homemade meal. The first time his heart had felt so full, and it made all the difference in his world.