[Chapter Size: 2700 Words.]
Konoha, 44.
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...
"I'm sorry... I wanted to be alone for a while," Obito said.
Naruto looked at him for a moment. "I think we can talk a little, Obito. I know what you're going through," he said.
"You don't know anything..." Obito muttered dryly.
Naruto merely snorted and walked over without being invited.
He sat down beside Obito, bothering him. Naruto already knew his abilities. He knew Obito was about to simply disappear so he could be alone. Naruto certainly had no way of reaching him in that dimension, where he himself had already been thrown several times while they trained on the other continent.
Only Naruto and Obito took part in that training on the other continent alongside their parents, while everyone else remained in the Namikaze Clan.
Naruto moved quickly and slapped Obito on the back. To his great surprise, Obito felt red chakra flooding into him. Before he realized it, he was enveloped in a red chakra cloak with two fox ears on top of his head.
"What are you doing?" Obito said, both indignant and bewildered.
Then he looked at his own hands in confusion. "What is this?" he murmured.
Naruto grinned. "I'm sure the village's monitoring team will notice Kurama's chakra here in a few seconds, but it doesn't matter."
Naruto knew that, before long, a group of ANBU would arrive to check what was happening. After all, such a massive amount of chakra suddenly appearing in the middle of the day inside the village—especially the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox—would immediately attract attention. His father had told him to be careful, because it would cause chaos.
"This is something I learned from my father in this world," Naruto said with a smile. It was only last week that Minato had taught him that.
Minato was not surprised in the slightest that Naruto had mastered that ability so quickly. After all, he himself had learned it during the war. Perhaps he had thought of it over the last few hours, or maybe at the very moment he began transferring his chakra to the entire Shinobi Alliance.
When Minato started explaining it, Naruto was deeply impressed. He had never thought of doing something like that back then and immediately began trying to do the same. However, even Kushina was incapable of performing it.
Minato could do it as well, but only because he had extensive experience with seals and sealing techniques capable of absorbing chakra to replenish the user's own body, as well as with those that could share chakra with allies.
He had even developed the chakra storage seal so that he could connect it to any user's chakra with a few adjustments.
When absorbing chakra from a separate space into the body, there was naturally bound to be some problem with the process. After all, it would not be surprising if many people had already come up with the same idea of storing chakra within their own bodies. That certainly shouldn't have been an idea exclusive to Minato in this era.
The real problem was getting that accumulated chakra to synchronize and connect with the user's own chakra.
It was no wonder that jinchūriki often got badly hurt when receiving the chakra of the Tailed Beasts—not because their bodies weren't used to it, but because the chakra had not been filtered enough to be used by a human.
A perfect jinchūriki can naturally establish that connection because the beast itself is able to synchronize its chakra with its host's after spending so many years together, making the process much easier.
So Minato simply passed on the same idea Naruto had developed during the war. It was merely the theory being passed to its true creator, since it helped refine the storage seals, constantly modifying them so they would connect perfectly to the user's chakra signature. Naruto's seals, as well as those of the other students, were designed so they would not harm them whenever they needed to use that stored chakra. In other words, it was a custom-made seal for each of them.
When Naruto did this with Yamato as his first test, he was shocked by the sheer amount of chakra he felt, and when he released Mokuton with his new chakra reserve, he practically began summoning an entire forest.
"So this is your Bijū's chakra?" Obito asked as he looked at his own hands, covered by that layer of pure red chakra like a protective suit surrounding his body.
Naruto smiled at the young Uchiha. "Yes," he replied.
"Besides, there's something even more interesting about it. It shows my feelings. It can show my will. You can feel it, Obito. You can feel that I understand your pain." Naruto was using his father's own words.
Minato had said that this was a way to connect everyone, and that Naruto was the center of that connection.
That made Naruto question his father. Since he also had the ability to transfer chakra without harming others thanks to his chakra control, why didn't he become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki as well? He could separate a portion of Kushina's Fox and take it for himself, doing the same thing, right?
Minato simply shook his head when he heard Naruto's question. 'No. That is not my role. That will belong to the Naruto who will be born into this world.' He answered without the slightest hesitation, leaving Naruto quite surprised.
His father from this world, so incredibly powerful, simply had no desire to possess every possible ability and power. In truth, Naruto knew that he was more than satisfied with his natural abilities and had no need to become a jinchūriki.
He had no desire for that whatsoever, especially with all the chakra resources he could accumulate so quickly.
"Connect people...?" Obito heard Naruto's words, and suddenly several flashbacks began rushing through his mind.
He saw an older Kakashi... In another Konoha, but above all, he saw... Sakura.
He saw memories of Naruto desperately fighting for Sakura's attention while she clearly loved someone else and looked down on him. Sakura was far more despicable and violent than Rin... Even so, Naruto seemed determined to win her over with everything he had...
The earlier images showed him at the age of twelve or thirteen, but then other memories surfaced—Naruto's own memories. Those of his older, sixteen-year-old self.
When he met Sakura again, he saw that she had grown beautiful and even recognized him. But her expression was completely different whenever she looked at Sasuke.
Whenever it was Sasuke in her eyes, there was a sparkle in them that she had never shown when looking at Naruto. A sparkle of concern, a sparkle of love. And Naruto kept trying to feed off those feelings from someone who clearly did not love him.
He never showed it, but he was suffering because of it as well...
The pink-haired girl's eyes remained fixed solely on her teammate, even after everything he had done and after he had hurt her so many times.
It was at that moment that an ANBU suddenly appeared, interrupting the sea of memories Obito was witnessing.
The two of them were quickly surrounded. Naruto simply raised his hands with a smile.
Even Sakumo was there, looking at Obito with concern, raising an eyebrow when he saw the boy wrapped in that layer of the Fox's chakra.
"What is this, Naruto-kun?" Sakumo asked, already quite familiar with Naruto.
He knew about Kurama inside Naruto, but this deeply puzzled him. After all, Naruto was simply standing beside someone who shouldn't have that chakra, and now that person was covered in a layer of it.
That immediately caused the entire monitoring department to rush to the Hokage's office to report it. Sakumo had to stop what he was doing at once and head there.
He himself had already sensed that presence, but he assumed it was Kushina. However, when the ANBU informed him that the chakra signature was different, he left his office immediately.
"Sorry about this. I shared a little of my chakra." Naruto touched Obito's back, causing the chakra to disappear.
Sakumo and the ANBU looked at the two of them, even more bewildered.
"Alright..." Sakumo replied absentmindedly.
This was certainly not something he should interfere with. Perhaps it would be better to speak with Minato later. After all, he knew everything about Naruto. His entire worldview had begun to crumble immediately, and he wouldn't be able to think about anything else until he managed to talk to Minato.
Naruto paid little attention to their stares. He was much more focused on Obito, who was looking at him in surprise.
"You have someone too..." Obito said, his tone filled with understanding now that he had learned about Sakura. He had already seen enough.
"Yeah. I also fell for someone who was never going to love me," Naruto began. "And now I understand that, because my father talked to me about a few things."
"I know..." Obito finally lowered his shoulders and looked ahead. "Sensei talked to me about it too. He told me the truth. I didn't want to believe it at first. It wasn't an easy conversation... but I believe what he told me." Obito spoke in a voice filled with sadness.
He couldn't deny it. He had lived inside a romantic illusion, believing that Rin could be the great love of his life.
In the end, she had feelings for Kakashi. How could he not take that as a crushing blow? He didn't want to believe it at first. But it wasn't only Sensei who talked to him—Kushina also welcomed him like an older sister.
In the end, he couldn't blame anyone. He couldn't blame Kakashi, and he couldn't blame Rin. He couldn't make her love him just because he wanted her to. Things were simply the way they were.
And the best way to deal with that was to move on.
"Look... I know we can't change the feelings one person has for another. But it's better to let go. I understand that now," Obito finally said.
"In my world, Sakura too... But now I see that she wasn't meant for me." Naruto paused briefly. "Sometimes we become so attached to what we can't have that we forget to accept it and see the world for what it really is."
"There will always be someone who will love you... And maybe that person is already close to you. It's just that we're so focused on the person we want to look at us that we never notice who's actually looking at us..."
"And I know there's a very beautiful Uzumaki girl who's into you... What's her name again... Towa Uzumaki!" Naruto said, making Obito raise an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Aunt Hanabi's student. The one you went out with today... You never noticed?" Naruto said.
Obito thought for a moment before his eyes widened. "Wait... She invited me to the festival three days from now."
Naruto immediately heard that and flashed a smug smile. "Ah, so she already asked you out. That's great."
"She really likes me? I can't believe it..." Obito began to think.
Now that he thought about it, she was always cheerful around him, clung to his arm, got shy whenever he arrived, teased him all the time, and he always ended up getting embarrassed too.
But he had always thought it was just teasing. He had never imagined that she could actually have feelings for him.
After all, they had only known each other for a little over a year. She wasn't even close to being like Rin.
But if Rin truly loved Kakashi and not him, then he should follow Sensei's advice.
Move on.
'There will always be a woman who will truly love you. It's better to accept reality than to fight for someone who loves someone else. There's no point in giving up your own happiness trying to force someone to love you, or trying to win over someone who has already given their heart to someone else.' Those words deeply shook Obito's world when he heard them from his Sensei.
He had never expected that from Rin. He had always believed that one day he could win her heart, since they were always together, talked about their dreams, and she always supported him.
Obito couldn't deny it. He had always loved her deeply.
He told himself that he would give his life for her.
She had never been like the other girls. She had never been one of Kakashi's fangirls, never behaved like them, even though many of her friends were.
But in the end, she secretly harbored those same feelings.
Obito felt empty. He felt inferior. It was a terrible feeling when he finally began to notice the signs.
He didn't believe it the first time. But he saw how Rin's eyes always ended up resting on Kakashi. In his memories, she was always trying to look at him.
Even when Obito was by her side, even if it wasn't intentional, her eyes always found their way back to Kakashi.
It was admiration, and something he didn't want to accept...
Hearing her friends practically confess it on her behalf hurt his heart. It truly did.
It shouldn't have. After all, he had already realized it two months earlier, when that conversation had finally happened.
That was exactly why Minato didn't want to see him wasting his time only to suffer an even greater disappointment. If he kept feeding those feelings in the future, he would only end up hurting himself. And he would hurt Rin as well.
Something he would never want, because in a way, she still held an important place in his heart as his teammate.
But now, he had decided to move on, and that old feeling had begun to shatter.
Rin seemed sad whenever she saw him pulling away or no longer talking to her, but he needed to do that. It was the best thing for both of them, and he didn't want to be the kind of man who kept insisting.
He should save his dreams for someone better. Maybe Rin would always be a friend, but she would never be that person.
"I understand... It seems I was a little mistaken," Naruto murmured as he saw the determined look in Obito's eyes.
"Yeah... But I'm moving on, Naruto. It's all still very recent. Sometimes I just can't control it..." Obito murmured.
Naruto nodded. "I know." That made him think for a moment.
"So, are you finally going to accept that girl's invitation?" he asked with a smug smile.
Obito blushed slightly and nodded before letting out an innocent, even happy laugh.
"I had already accepted it. I just didn't imagine it was something so... specific," he said, unable to bring himself to say "romantic."
"You still have a lot to learn. Maybe I can teach you."
"I may not have spent three years with an old pervert who had such a legendary name in the village, but I didn't fail to learn about women. On the other hand, my father—and especially my mother—have been teaching me a lot about how to deal with girls."
"It's something I had never noticed before. I was kind of an idiot, you know?" Naruto began to laugh, and the conversation between the two of them became much lighter.
They were no longer talking about lost loves or about people they could never have. The two of them, sitting atop the Second Hokage's stone monument, were talking about the people they truly should cherish.
About genuinely loving those who cherished them in return. Because there were people in this life who truly wanted to be by their side.
Perhaps it was time to take their eyes off those who would never return their feelings and realize that the world did not revolve around a single person.
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