13

Chapter 13: a city wall and a trampolineChapter Text

A little over two weeks into his stay in Konoha, Obito is finally declared 100% human with a side of mokuton, and allowed to leave the hospital. Quite promptly after, Raijin receives a summon to the Hokage's office so they may finally disclose the events of Obito's rescue. 

Raijin takes a deep breath outside the office doors. He's a student of Hatake Kakashi who had been a master at the art of bullshit. He learned from the man himself and even experienced Kakashi's expertise first hand. He can totally lie to the government. It probably doesn't even count as anarchy since he isn't actually a Konoha citizen yet. He's got this!

Nodding to himself, Raijin pushes the doors open and steps through. He's the last one to arrive it seems and he nods in greeting at Obito, Jiraiya and Minato before dipping into a shallow bow to the Hokage. 

"Let's not delay this any further," Hiruzen begins, dismissing the ANBU in the room with a wave of his hand and activating the soundproofing seal under his desk. "I'm rather curious about what it is the three of you have insisted on being so tightlipped about."

Raijin exchanges glances with Jiraiya in silent commiseration because they both know exactly how insane it's going to sound when they reveal that they pretty much beheaded Uchiha Madara even though the dude was supposed to have died like decades ago. 

"Obito," Jiraiya prompts, "would you like to start?"

Chronological order. Raijin nods. That makes sense. 

Obito doesn't seem to think so from the wide-eyed look he gives the Sannin, but it's not like he has much of a choice. He turns to Minato for reassurance, receiving an encouraging nod and smile. Raijin shoots the kid a thumb-up. With that, Obito takes a deep breath and starts. 

"I thought I died in that cave," the boy begins. In his corner of the room, Minato flinches. "Half of me was totally crushed under those rocks, I'd just given away one of my eyes to Kakashi, and I was losing consciousness fast. I didn't think I was gonna wake up again, but then I did." He pauses, pressing his lips together and furrowing his brows. At his sides, his hands tremble and he curls them into fists. "I was in this tunnel when I woke up, bandaged and on a bed. And I wasn't alone."

Say what you will about the kid, but Obito sure has a knack for storytelling. Raijin knows this story more fully than anyone else in the room and even he's invested. Jiraiya looks like he's considering taking on a literary student. Personally though, Raijin doesn't think Minato is going to just let his sensei whisk away his student to teach him how to write porn. 

"There was an old guy in there with me." Obito hesitates before finally coming to the main point of the story, "He told me he was Uchiha Madara."

The silence that follows is uncomfortably deafening. Raijin tries not to fidget if only because he's an adult now and trying to seem like he has his shit kind of together.

Gulping, Obito continues, "He said he'd never died in his final battle against Senju Hashirama. That he'd bit off a bit of the Shodaime's flesh or something and used the cells to heal himself. He was living off of an external chakra source because he was super old and didn't have enough to even sustain himself anymore. He said he'd implanted Senju Hashirama's cells into me too to save me." The boy shakes his head. "He was pretty much insane," he states bluntly. "He claimed he wanted to create a world of only peace and love, but apparently he was trying to cast the world into an endless dream after chucking out all the bad stuff or something."

Hiruzen barely recovers from gaping blankly at Obito in time to save his pipe from falling right out of his mouth. 

"We have proof," Raijin offers, pulling up his sleeve to unseal the scroll containing Madara's corpse in stasis from the storage seal inked along his forearm. He places the scroll on the floor before pushing a bit of chakra into it to unseal Uchiha Madara's head right there in the Hokage's office. 

"By the Sage," Hiruzen whispers, staring wide-eyed, his poker face having completely failed him in the face of the Ghost of the Uchiha. 

Raijin seals the head away again, scooping the scroll up to deposit it on the Hokage's table.

"Cast the world into a dream," Minato pipes up, sounding contemplative. "What did you mean by that?"

Obito shrugs. "I don't really know the specifics. He had these puppet things taking care of me—said they were manifestation of his will or something but I'd kind of stopped listening to all the crazy by then; sorry. Anyway, the puppet guys were the ones who told me that the plan was to put the world into a dream. I think it was supposed to be a mass genjutsu of some sort, but I was still passed out most of the time so they never got into the specifics. Next thing I knew, I was waking up and Raijin-san and Jiraiya-sama were there to save me."

"If we're going by order, should I go next?" Raijin asks, raising his hand and tilting his head. When he receives a nod from Hiruzen, he shrugs and starts. "I've been using my summons as part of my information network for a while," he says. "It's just convenient since they can go anywhere and find almost anything out if they feel like it. Then about a month ago, one of my foxes got back to me about sensing an artificial being with chakra in the abandoned mines of Mountains' Graveyard. She said that the artificial human wasn't alone and that there was apparently an old guy and a boy with it, whom she suspected as Uchiha shinobi from the feel of their chakra."

"Your summons can sense chakra to such an extent?" Hiruzen interrupts, brows furrowed. 

Raijin doesn't actually know if they can or not. But he bets that the Sandaime doesn't either. Looking the Hokage in the eye, completely straight-faced, Raijin says, "Some of them can," as if he has any idea what he is talking about. If Hiruzen asks, he's going to summon his foxes here and they're just going to lie with him because, not only are they enablers of no parallel, they actively seek opportunities to unleash mayhem into the world. 

Looking thoughtful, Hiruzen nods. "I see," he says and gestures for Raijin to continue. 

At that, Raijin's expression becomes a bit fixed. If the old man believes him, he is going to laugh himself right into an early grave. Either way, apparently he isn't getting called out on his bullshit today.

"Right, so, anyway. I had Sayuri-san do a bit of eavesdropping before I decided to do anything. She reported back to me that the old guy was calling himself Uchiha Madara and the kid wasn't allowed to leave, so much so that they'd blocked the tunnels off. Now, I didn't know if that was legit or not but I wasn't about to find out by myself. The only person I could really think to take with me was Jiraiya-san here. I knew he'd been looking for me for a while so he would probably be nearby, he's strong enough to accompany a stranger on a trip like that on a whim, and he's from Konoha, so it'd be easier to deal with any Uchiha with him around to handle the aftermath. Luckily, he agreed and that's that."

Jiraiya inclines his head, taking his cue. "My toads let me know Mena—I mean, Raijin had clearly been looking for me. I met up with him, he told me the situation, and I figured I may as well see it through. We followed his fox summon through the mine and blew up the blockade to where they'd been keeping Obito. Inside were an aged Uchiha Madara and three of those artificial humanoids. I took two of them while Raijin dealt with the other and Madara. And then we secured Obito and brought him here." 

"Well," Hiruzen says rather conclusively. "That certainly was quite the tale."

'You're telling me,' Raijin thinks. 

Steepling his fingers, the Hokage regards them all gravely. "We will have to verify the remains you have provided us with of course, but even if that isn't Madara, he is still a rogue nin that you have rescued Obito from. And if it is confirmed that this is indeed Uchiha Madara, then you will truly have done us a service, Raijin-kun, by killing Konoha's most prolific traitor. Even going so far as to enlist Jiraiya-kun's help, truly, I cannot think of anything you could have done better."

Standing behind Hiruzen, Minato beams at his brother, looking entirely too proud. Raijin blinks and smiles back. Minato kind of reminds him of a sunflower when he looks like that.

There is a smile on Hiruzen's face too as he regards Raijin. "In light of these events, I do believe I have more than enough basis to offer you a place among our ranks, Raijin-kun." He nods at Jiraiya and Minato in turn, adding, "Of course, you have already been vouched for by two of our best and brightest. Moreover, in all your time here and even before, you have consistently shown that you are no enemy of Konoha's."

Admittedly, it's politics, and Raijin knows it. He's strong, he killed Konoha's most legendary antagonist, he rescued a member of a founding clan who now has mokuton, he's related to a future Hokage candidate, and he is owed a life debt by Nara Shikaku too for that one time. Hiruzen would be an idiot to let him walk back out of this village where he could be snatched up by any other village looking to shape a Yellow Flash of their own. 

Iwagakure will probably be foaming at the mouth when they hear that Namikaze Minato's brother had just been wandering around in the wild under their noses all this time. 

So, yeah, he knows what this is really about. That doesn't stop the way his eyes burn with the threat of tears anyways because Raijin doesn't think he will ever truly outgrow that part of him that has always just craved to feel wanted by his village. He's being offered a place here, beside his father, because of things he has achieved of his own merit to prove that he's worthy of being looked upon as a capable shinobi. 

Sage, he's such a tool. Sasuke would probably bust a lung laughing at him from the afterlife. Not that Mr. International-criminal-at-twelve really has a leg to stand on. He was just as extreme in his emotional bias as Raijin, just in the totally opposite direction. He and Sasuke have always been funny that way. 

Neither was wrong given what they'd been through, and the only to really understand it was the other, but that similarity is what doomed them to never be able to reconcile those differences just for how stark they were. 

Gentling his tone into his Grandfather Voice (trademark pending), Hiruzen asks, "Will you accept, Raijin-kun?"

Everyone in the room already knows what Raijin's answer is going to be, and yet, all of them hold their breaths. 

Raijin doesn't make them wait. His face splits into a grin that kind of hurts his face in a good way and he nods hard enough to rattle his brain in his skull. "It would be my honour, sir." He looks to Minato as he says this, and Minato smiles right back, looking like a massive weight has been lifted off his shoulders with this official declaration. 

Hiruzen chuckles. "Well, we've already been working on your immigration. I think the only thing really left to sort out is what rank you will be."

If Raijin isn't at least a jounin, he might actually fuck right off to Uzushio. He'll just take Minato and Kushina with him. Obito can come too, which means the rest of Team 7 will probably follow. And maybe Itachi?

Before he can really get into pondering over the matter, Minato interrupts his train of thought to say, "We'll perform an evaluation at the earliest possible date. Depending on your performance, you'll then either receive the equivalent of a field promotion to chuunin or take an official jounin exam."

That sounds reasonable. Raijin nods. He's going to have to figure out which of his techniques will never see the light of day again unless he's in a legit life or death situation, and he has to do this before the exam. He can't risk stumbling and giving people any reason to doubt that he is anything other than what he says he is. 

"But first," Hiruzen says, eyes twinkling as he pulls something out of one of his drawers and places it on his desk. "For you, Raijin-kun."

Raijin stares at the forehead protector, the stylized leaf winking back at him in the light of the Hokage's office. Viscerally, he misses his own hitai-ate. Iruka's hitai-ate. Swallowing, he reaches out to carefully pick the headband up and study it. His fingers close around the cool metal. His hands do not shake. 

Lifting his gaze solemnly, he dips into a bow from the waist. "Thank you, Hokage-sama." 

It's not much as far as speeches go, especially for Raijin who is actually rather proud of his public speaking skills, but the words are sincere and they serve the purpose all the same. 

Hiruzen nods, sporting a pleased smile. "I hope you will continue to serve Konoha well, Raijin-kun. The Will of Fire burns bright in you. I look forward to seeing you grow as a member of the Leaf."

Hitai-ate secured to his forehead, Raijin grins. It feels like being handed a missing piece to add to the puzzle of incompleteness within himself.

"Looking good, brat!" Jiraiya booms, clapping him sharply on the back and laughing when it visibly knocks the breath out of Raijin. 

"Congratulations, Raijin-san," Obito chimes in with a grin. His smile only widens when Raijin ruffles his hair in response. 

Quietly, Minato offers, "It suits you, Raijin."

"Thanks, nii-chan," Raijin replies, holding up a peace sign to really sell it. Still new to the address, Minato is one step too late to hide just how pleased he is to hear it. Raijin thinks it's terribly amusing. 

"Oh," Jiraiya straightens as if remembering something. He turns to Raijin with serious eyes. "You should be on the lookout now that you're officially a part of the village. Once the news about Madara gets out, the Uchiha are almost certain to extend a formal invitation of thanks to you."

Minato nods along. "You saved one of their own and took out the biggest traitor to the clan. It is practically guaranteed."

Raijin tries not to grimace at that. Whether they thank him through a letter or with personal favour is probably going to depend on how well he does on his evaluation. After all, the Uchiha are unlikely to bother with a chuunin. Considering that Raijin is most certainly at jounin level and well above it, he should already be anticipating the formal invitation to dinner or something. 

Knowing them, they will use it as an opportunity to test him. 

It won't just be the Uchiha either. Given the time period, Minato is just taking the plunge into the deep waters of Konoha's politics. Most of his political sway is earned in this war from what Raijin remembers. For his efforts, Minato is posed as something of an icon to not just the shinobi forces but also the civilians, and Hiruzen capitalises on it by awarding Minato with influence and backing, eventually naming him successor over Orochimaru and Uchiha Fugaku. 

And now, Minato isn't the only one who will be associated with the Namikaze name. There will be eyes on Raijin because he is probably easier to reach than Minato. They will seek to exploit him to target his brother, or to cosy up to the future Hokage through him. It certainly doesn't help that he's new to the village and a blank slate; a piece free for shaping.

Once he proves how strong he is in his own right and shows what he can contribute to Konoha for himself, they're likely to only get worse since he could cultivate influence of his own. Even if he chooses not to carve out a political foothold himself using militaristic achievements as a springboard, he could earn sway over the masses (civilian and shinobi alike) like his brother did. 

The game of politics is akin to swimming in shark-infested waters and Raijin is fresh meat. 

He grins and it is a baring of teeth. Raijin didn't suffer through Tsunade and Kakashi's lectures to let people make a fool of him now. Whether they know it or not, he'd been the equivalent of a Hokage successor in his own right, and Raijin has always taken the legacies entrusted to him seriously. 

When the time comes, he will be prepared.