This chapter specifically (and the previous ones as well) is going through a few periods of time skips to move this along and not be so much filler and have unnecessary chapters that take me a while to lengthen because there is only one big thing happening in each. Now there will be multiple important parts in the chapters that can span over time not just a day or whatever to get this to move forward to the end I've been waiting for.

Sasuke and I were sparring with Kisame and Itachi and Sai was sparring Suigetsu as Jugo watched and chatted with the animals while Kakashi 'supervised'—read porn with girlish giggles—like the great sensei he is. I was sore already from last night when I was running away from Deidara after I 'accidentally' messed with some of his clay and then he decided to drop me from the sky claiming I could 'heal myself from a few artfully given bruises'.I had also trained with Hanabi (and Kakuzu who was totally wrapped around her rich little finger) this morning using Hidan as a great live test subject but I was still going now. It was fun to bond and completely worth the effort I didn't have.

We were training to push Itachi's body to the limits and make sure there were no lingering complications with his eyes or chakra. For having only been capable of training for a weak it was almost too unfair how skilled he was. Granted, his stamina was not up to par with the rest of us but it never really had been in the first place. Even then, he was still unbelievably difficult to fight against with an even more maxed out Sharingan. If I didn't have 359 degree vision training with them would be stupidly hard. I genuinely wondered if all of us were to go all out who would win.

Kisame and I let him and Sasuke go at it while we had our own fun. Kisame had the stamina but I had the control and we were talking shit the entire time. Whenever Kakashi would whistle we'd switch partners. It was a blast, we were just missing Naruto spamming the area with clones and Zabuza make rude comments. One is off training and the other is taking care of his utterly insane pregnant girlfriend.

I had just shot off a lightning jutsu at Kisame while dodging the ink dragon Sai had sent at my back when the area to my back left tingled with a weak, flickering chakra.

Kakashi and Kisame both had to have smelled who or what my Byakugan field caught onto because they both went stiff at the ready for an attack. Kisame more-so than Kakashi at the scent, he has to know it. The chakra flared before dimming weakly once again. Itachi's blazing eyes locked onto the direction it came from, his body going taut and EMS spinning to life after a glance shared between him and Kisame. I turned to get a good look at who appeared in the lush forest, my eyes zeroed in on the pulsing dim chakra and the crippled form; my breath caught and I shot forward moving through the forest with practiced ease. Everyone followed.

On the run, I summoned the twins Kaname and Maru to go get Ino and Tenten. They had the special capability of teleporting people to the spot they were summoned so help would be here soon. Kakashi yelled to get back but I ignored his command, he needed me to get there probably more than anyone else...ever. All I could think was what in the fuck happened.

"Obito?" Fuck fuck fuck, this is bad. Kakashi froze at the name, looking down at the crippled man in a disbelieving gaze. He was petrified, his visible features pale and his mind reeling in absolute insanity. What a great way to be reunited. 'Hey I'm not dead but look like I'm about to again...but good to see you Kakashi' The world must love fucking with Kakashi, god knows what he did in his past life to earn this trauma shit.

"You...were...right." He gurgled out, one Mangekyo Sharingan eye and one regular Sharingan fading back to black. Obito is here, half-dead at best, but Pein nor Konan are with him. He had to have questioned Zetsu but by the looks of it, things didn't go well. That means the stupid bastard is still alive and he has Pein still in his grasp.

It was safe to say Obito looked like death took a shit on him. There was a gash on his head bleeding down his face like his mask cracked and slashed into him, his right side was missing the artificial arm and leg provided by white Zetsu's alter ego Tobi, and he looked like someone dragged him through a rose bush with the amount of cuts and bruises on his scarred body. Something happened and Zetsu tried to kill him. Obito spluttered a cough, blood dropping from his mouth. I dropped down to my knees to start emergency first aid but Itachi yanked me back while Kisame descended on Obito ready to strike a finishing blow with Samehada. "Suigetsu!" The water boy was fast enough to heed to my call and blocked the blow just in time.

"Back off kid." The blue skinned giant bit at Suigetsu, putting more force into his living blade, pressing closer and closer to Obito's neck. His sharp teeth pulled into a feral snarl, a snort leaving his mouth at the idea of our 'oh so grand' leader being reduced to nothing. "You look pathetic...Madara. Let's put you out of your misery." I bit the pale hand wrapped around my mouth and shoved an elbow into Itachi's stomach forcing him to release me from his hold. Kisame was next and I knocked him away from Obito, Suigetsu acting instantly to help keep Kisame back from attacking the intruder.

"He's not Madara!" I yelled at them, Kisame and Itachi both stopped in confusion. Kakashi flinched again. More lies to catch up to me, I hate it, I hated lying but I didn't know what else to do. "He's another pawn. Come on Obito, you'll be ok." Carefully I shifted Obito to lay on his side so he wouldn't choke on his blood. My hands began to glow as I tried to seal up any open wounds from whatever the hell happened with Zetsu and his connection. Ino and Tenten appeared and rushed to my side. Kaname and Maru disappeared in a puff of smoke. I'd call them back tomorrow to pamper the twins, even as cats, they loved a nice hot spring bath.

"Seriously Hinata, I swear insanity follows you! Another new guy almost dead...my god." They both groaned and I couldn't blame them, if only they could see how fucked up his chakra looks on the inside. Tenten began placing medical seals around us and Ino took over my position so I could talk to him. I gripped his hand in mine and the other went up to checking the wound on his head, a fractured scull and more. Neither said anything but at a glance they were struggling with the same thing I was. Obito wasn't healing in the slightest.

Instead of healing him like it was supposed to, his body was grasping onto the chakra entering his wounds as his own was leaking out of him like it was trying to merge with...maybe the missing half of what used to be his 'new' body or to grasp onto the cells and foreign that used to be part of him, mixed with him but is now gone. Instead of allowing our chakra to heal, it was absorbing it and pumping it through his ragged, deformed coils. I'd never seen anything like the fucked up mess inside of Obito. I had to guess it all dealt with the Zetsu/Hashirama cell mix being ripped from his body.

After sharing a body for so long he must've become dependent on the shared chakra and new coils. It was the entire reason he survived the first time and now with that chakra and cellular structure missing from his body he was trying to replace that the best he could with our chakra. and it's not like his body could just accept anyone infusing their chakra into him while we heal, too many medics working on the same person is an issue and trying to add someone to just even out his fluctuating body, especially without a familiar chakra, would kill him.

Zetsu's merge then de-merge with him fucked him up so much, I really hoped he'd be able to defeat the bastard and this would be over but I never took into account of the white half being able to remove the 'slightly inactive Tobi' part that replaced his crushed body. I didn't think that was possible.

Ino, Tenten, nor I could figure out a place to even start fixing the internal issues, Tsunade would probably be able to figure it out but she's not fucking here.

"Obito, what...happened?" He cracked a bloody smile. It was a broken one filled with regret, pain, anger, emptiness, and the tiniest bit of relief. It was the smile of someone who was accepting that they deserved to die, someone whose whole world was ending and they only had one thing left before death. A single tear fell from his eyes, the lifeless empty eyes of a broken soul.

"You..were..right...Madara...I...Zetsu...She's gone...Everything was...fake... Zetsu he killed her. He killed Rin and used me! He's still using Pein and they are coming for everyone." His voice was somber and slightly raspy from pain. Kisame and Itachi were both heavily confused at the entire thing, one one from not knowing Obito and the other from knowing Obito. There were too many lies woven by me and others and they were all going to unravel

"It's not your fault Obito, it's his so don't go doing that fallen hero crap and blame yourself for his manipulation. We'll kill that fucking plant bastard for you, for Rin, for everyone. I promise." Zetsu was going to die, Kaguya was never coming back, Madara could go suck a dick in purgatory, Pein is going to get some sense talked into him by Naruto, and Kabuto is going to lose. Zetsu wanted this war and we were going to end it, it will not end up like before, he's going to die before he could even cry for 'mother'.

I was sometimes too focused on the small details that I forgot the big picture. There were so many things I was trying to do but figuring out how to defeat a person I still know little to nothing about in a fight should have been the first. I should have done something sooner, I should have figured out how to defeat him. It doesn't matter now though, Zetsu will die before he can wreak any more havoc.

Tenten and Ino wrapped his body in preparation for transport to the hospital but with the barely functioning body parts he had, he pushed them away. He was probably going to die if we didn't move him but he wasn't letting us. Obito was wearing that same ready for death look Itachi used to have and I hate it. Tears burned at my eyes when Obtio met my eye. I was ready to force him into healing but one look made me stop, I was frozen at the sudden determination blazing off of him. Whatever he was going to do next was the whole reason he came. I can't interfere with that but as soon as he's done, I'm taking him to the hospital.

Obito moved to sit up. I helped him, keeping my hands steadily and lightly letting him take in my chakra. At least temporarily that could give it something to grasp on and flow to help at least keep replenishing the small stream of chakra leaking. He was strong willed though so I knew he'd stay alive until he deemed his job done. Obito smiled, his hand squeezing mine.

"It's times like this you remind me of her...your heart is too big, you care too much even for the worst of us. She'd have loved you. Thank you Hinata." As much as it felt like a goodbye, I didn't want to let it be one. I pressed my forehead against his.

"Don't make it sound like a goodbye, I want you to be there to see the peace you once fought for. I didn't let you kick my ass twice for you to give in to some fly trap." Obito greatly kicked my ass and I'm glad he never really tried to kill me and he knew it. It brought a short laugh past his lips for the first time in a while.

"Okay." He turned away from me to focus on his old teammate, the person he hated for so long, his...friend. Kakashi. It had been so long, too long since Obito had seen Kakaskhi and not pictured Rin at the end of his arm. Now he could truly see his old rival for the good person he grew into.

"Long time...Kakashi." Kakashi's eyes were wide open, his hands clenched tightly as he attempted to control the ragged breathing that had come about. The features, the smell, the scars, the voice even if deeper...it all pointed to Obito. A supposed-to-be-dead Obito. Obito activated his Sharingan. When Obito's eyes locked with Kakashi's, he let Mangekyo take over. Kakashi's pattern was reflected back to him.

He had no lingering doubt it was Obito. A very different person than the boy who was crushed under the rocks but it was still Obito. I could see the panic racing in his eyes threatening his unflappable demeanor, the cool and calm Kakashi who never looked phased at anything thrown at him looked ready to come apart. He suddenly didn't look the terrifying copy-ninja or my goofy sensei, he was in shock.

Seeing Obito so deathly, his injuries from saving Kakashi were blazingly obvious without the enhancements anymore, made the guilt of Kakashi's failures weigh heavily on his strong shoulders once more. Even all these years later...all he could see were the injuries he caused.

"Obito...you're alive." He breathed out, trying and failing to regain composure. Sasuke had never seen Kakashi look so...un-Kakashi like, none of us had. "How? If you were alive, why...why didn't you come back before! Why now after all this time?" What the hell happened to you Obito? Was left unspoken between the two former teammates.

"I saw Rin die." Kakashi visibly flinched. His hands twitched like he needed to rub them together to scrub the 'blood' off of them again and again.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect her. I promised and I failed you." Self loathing was crushing Kakashi once more, gripping around him like a serpentine. For two people so different they really were the same. Kakashi wanted Obito to yell at him or something, he waited with baited breath only to choke on the utterance of a few words.

"It was never your fault. Even so, I forgive you Kakashi." Obito wanted Kakashi to forgive himself, he didn't blame him anymore, it wasn't his fault. Kakashi didn't purposely kill Rin, not like Obito who meant to kill Minato. They were both crying but I don't think either of them consciously knew it.

Obito explained his situation, being saved and then groomed into the puppet he was by Zetsu's hand in Rin's death. The blows hit hard and Kakashi could barely look at Obito, still riddled with his own guilt and now with anger of his friends actions. "I don't deserve any forgiveness for anything, I'm sorry Kakashi. For not coming back, for releasing the 9-Tails, and for killing Kushina-nee and Minato-sensei." Obito released a deep breath of resignation. "Please, kill me." Stormy gray eyes met Obtio's, Kakashi's eyes narrowed and his glare shot daggers. "You should be the one to do it." What the fuck is up with Suicidal Uchiha?!

I got ready to knock Obito out and make sure Kakashi didn't follow through. A death like that isn't heroic or would make up for what he's done, all it would do was hurt Kakashi more. I didn't want to lose Obito before he even has a chance at redemption and I don't want Kakashi to have any more self-inflicted wounds. He's already been broken and we've all worked so hard to start putting him back together. As much as I understood his reasoning, it was unfair of Obito to ask that of Kakashi.

"No." Kakashi spoke low and rough, all signs of his almost breakdown were gone as he stared down the Uchiha. "I won't kill you, accepting death like this is cowardly. You were many things Obito but I never picked a coward as one of them. You dying by my hand is not a way to atone for all you've done, it won't redeem you nor will it earn forgiveness. You do that by accepting your faults, by living and breathing for those who died because of you, by believing in the fight for a better world, by laying your life on the line for your comrades. Show that your survival wasn't for nothing."

As rare as it was for Kakashi to truly be serious and give 'advice' per-say, when he did it was never not impactful. His words resonated not just with Obito but everyone who had heard them. The respect those around us held for him seemed to grow. Kakashi really is the coolest, this was just a reminder of how without him I'd have never made it this far. Naruto may be the most powerful in giving moving speeches but Kakashi was no slouch. His wisdom and life experience brought things nobody else could, his words were powerful because they were ones he probably told himself on the daily.

Obito looked away from Kakashi and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears away. He knew Kakashi was right but Obito didn't feel like he knew how to live anymore, not after everything. He felt undeserving but if that was true, most of us were truly not deserving of life.

"He's right you know." I stopped the chakra flowing into Obito, feeling slightly woozy from the drain already.

"Yeah." Obito whispered. "I know." The man straightened up and allowed Ino and I to bandage him and prepare to bring him to the hospital where Tenten had ran ahead and set up a secluded room saved for possible threats. His interrogations were a definite if and when had him stabilized.

"Jerk." I grumbled to Obito.

"Hn." He responded quietly, eyes slowly closing as the pain was overriding the adrenaline he once had. Once he was ready to move, we rushed off, Kakashi carrying Obito with ease. Half-dead or not, he wasn't going to let the mentally unstable man harm anyone or himself.

***

Everyone stared at the spot Obito, Hinata, and Kakashi had just left from, blinking slowly in shock. Suigetsu broke the silence, his face scrunching into one of confused idiocy. "What the hell just happened?"

"I...Don't know." Sasuke responded slowly, lacking the usual cool and edgy demeanor he carriedHe was genuinely confused to a level he hadn't been in a long time. Itachi, Jugo, and Kisame were in the same boat.

"It seems as though Kakashi-sempai knows the former head of the Akatsuki and-"

"Shut up Sai." Everyone intoned to the black haired artist. His aptitude for assessing a situation definitely didn't work on anything not ninja related. While it was mildly hilarious most of the time, everyone was too busy trying to wrap their head around what had just happened to deal with it.

***

"Shit...fuck...I...gah!" I was practically ripping my hair out in stress. Why couldn't we just fight it out, this would be so much easier if I didn't have to try and heal anyone...again. Dammit, and I'm already at a loss for chakra from so much training.

I had sent a request for Tsunade's medcial books on anyhting having to do with cells and chakra dependency but before anything else could happen we had to stop Obito's chakra from leaking out. I poked my tongue out in concentration, zeroing in on the chakra pathways leading to his arm.

"Fuck it."

I focused chakra to the tips of my fingers, letting the toned down version of the gentle fist hopefully do its job. Each point I could see chakra flowing out of, I pressed a burst of my own chakra into it, plugging it and trying to stop the flow of chakra from escaping. Redirecting his chakra was a bit of work and I could feel the strain on my eyes of all the use but it was working and that meant now we had a longer time to assess and figure out how to heal him.

"Only you would use something for battle to try and save somebodies life." Ino muttered in disbelief and slight amusement, the tense mood around everyone lifting just slightly at the remark. I slumped to the ground, wiping the sweat from my brow.

"It worked didn't it?" Tenten snorted and Kakashi looked a bit less tense, though not by much. Ino shook her head, her hands glowing a pale green as she attempted to heal the external wounds once more. After a few minutes of trying, she stopped. Running a hand through her icy locks, Ino inhaled deeply.

"Yes, but we still have no clue what to do from here. His chakra is still absorbing mine instead of it healing him." Ino was frustrated, we all were.

"If only we could find a way to ask Lady Tsunade." Tenten slumped to the floor beside me, her medical seals putting Obito in a stasis as we tried to think of something more. Her wishful thought caused Kakashi to hum slightly.

"Maa, it is possible to speak with Tsunade, though I don't think she'll appreciate us interrupting the Kage Summit." His voice had retained some of that lightness he held when amused. Apparently annoying the Hokage that could punch a hole through his gut brought him a sense of amusement. I'd never been more happy to see him be his troll self, even if it was slightly more hollow than normal. Seeing him so shaken was hard to do.

"Wait, how?" Kakashi gave me a look. Even with one eye visible he managed to make me feel like an idiot for not understanding. Tenten nor Ino nor I had any idea what he was talking about, he was the super genius not us. His gloved hands were shoved in his pockets (to hide the slight tremble they still held at the sight of his dead teammate) as he sighed like it was such a burden to explain it to us.

He did the same with Team 7 when we were younger though so it wasn't anything new. I guess when you avoided talking to people (because he thought they were all idiots) your whole life it made it harder to explain things like a normal person. I guess it could be worse though, if this situation was any less serious he would have just not told us anything and made us figure it out...like an asshole.

"You and Tsunade share a summons with Katsuyu. The slug can divide and reverse summon part of herself to Tsunade's position if you were summon her. Katsuyu's conscious is not split even when separated..." Kakashi trailed off when I shot to my feet in excitement. Ino and Tenten were no slouches either and had put together what he was trying to get us to understand. We owed brunette for her comment to spark the idea, I'd definitely be

"So any details given to the Katsuyu here will be relayed to Tsunade and we can all work together to find out a solution...at least short term to heal Obito until she returns to work her magic and make some artificial limbs." I could cry, or hug Kakashi, or do all of the above. "Kakashi-sensei. I love you." He smiled and pat the top of my head much like I was a puppy. Tenten was awed at Kakashi, Gai was a great Sensei, one of if not the best, for sure, but he wasn't all that bright so seeing a sensei use their brain in more than just battle was highly impressive. Only during the war when being under the command of Shikamaru had she seen someone come up with such perfectly genius ideas so quick.

I bit down on my thumb, my canines piercing through the skin enough to draw blood. With a burst of chakra, depleting my reserves that much more, Katsuyu appeared. Well, she appeared about the size of a full grown man but she was here.

"Hinata-hime, there is-" Her soft voice rushed out with the slightest waver in it. She seemed a bit frantic and I felt bad for whatever I was interrupting.

"Lady Katsuyu, I'm so sorry but this is an emergency, take my chakra. I need you to split off and make a direct line with Tsunade so she can figure out how we are supposed to heal Obito."

"Hinata-hime, Pein has attacked the Kage Summit and the Kage have declared War on him." I swear to God no matter how many ways I try to prevent something, it happens in a completely different way and at a different time. Is the butterfly effect really that weak, is time so fixed that even if I change everything similar events will at some point take place? "Lady Tsunade is..." Katsuyu spoke quietly and the room became tense with fear.

"Is Lady Hokage still alive?" Tenten cut in quickly. She was worried for her idol, our Hokage. I was too, Tsunade can't be dead. Not again.

"Just barely. She is using her last bit of chakra to keep the Mizukage and the Raikage alive. The Tsuchikage has fallen." Well...Shit. I swear to everything in this damn universe that I am going to destroy Zetsu. No matter what I do to fuck with him, he just keeps finding ways around it. For that, he will die.

"What about Gaara and Sasori?" I'm pretty sure anyone within a foot of me could hear how fast my heart was racing. If he got captured, could we even save him this time?

"They were not there when I arrived, Tsunade said they had left before the battle took place." The relief I felt barely made a dent in the anxiety this day—this fucking year—has brought about.

"You are helping her heal correct?" Katsuyu gave me a quiet, soothing yes. If Tsunade was going to keep going, she would die from chakra drain. "Good, stop using her chakra, let mine take over fully and finish healing them just enough to not be in danger of death. Bring them to the village please."

"Yes Hinata-hime." Almost instantly I could feel the strain on my chakra as it was being pulled through Katsuyu.

"As for Obito, you have spent the most time healing alongside Tsunade, is there anything you can do to heal him?" We were going to have to do this the hard way but with Ino and Tenten—possibly Kakashi—looking through texts hopefully we'd be able to find something to help. I mean, she created Naruto an arm from scratch so she has to have some notes we can use to at least keep him out of the hands of the reaper.

"I will look but I am not positive I will be able to do anything, I am only a transmitter capable of healing from your chakra." The slug slithered her way to Obito's body, wrapping around him and swallowing him inside of her as she assessed the damage. "I can mend the wounds done to his body but his coils are damaged down to the cellular level and I do not have the capabilities to fix it. Lady Tsunade might have something in her notes but I will leave the rest to you four. I will transport the Kage to your position shortly." Tenten and Ino both bowed to the Slug summon.

"Thank you Lady Katsuyu." I stood up and bowed to the slug, wobbling slightly as the extent of the drain hit me. It wasn't too bad, just disorienting. Kakashi steadied me no doubt having flashbacks to his many times being hospitalized from chakra drain. Honestly, we have a running tally for it to see how many times it'll happen before retirement. Gai is winning as of now. "Thanks Kashi-sensei."

Katsuyu released Obito's body with his external wounds now mended so the only thing threatening him was the fucked up chakra. If we find a way to help him, I doubt he will ever be able to become a ninja again. It would be a blessing if we could even find a way to help him walk. That didn't take away from the fact that now he was partially healed, I think I cried a bit out of happiness. Kakashi did too...in his mind.

The ANBU in charge of bringing us medical texts arrived and we got to work studying with ourselves and as many clones as possible.

Genma and Tenzo returned with news of the Alliance and impending battle. As well as Tsunade giving title of (possibly temporary) 6th Hokage to Shikaku Nara believing him to be the best candidate to lead and help the village prosper until the village was sound enough to make a real decision on the Hokage. Naruto was called to return and our villages prepared for battle.

I made Tenten capable of using medicinal seals because she uses seals in her weaponry and since she wanted to be a med-nin, I found a compromise. Plus all teams need a medic as said by Tsuande and so she and Neji share the burden.

Love you, thanks for reading!