When Death Tries To Greet You

7.

     It wasn't difficult to locate Naruto. Outside of fighting, she was truly predictable in the short time he'd known her. He noticed her just outside of Ichiraku, conversing with the imposter clone as if it weren't herself.

He laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He couldn't take the clone out now because Naruto would most likely protect it. He silently prayed to whoever was watching above that she didn't embarrass him.

     It was strange to see himself interact with other people. He muttered a small, "Thank God," to himself that the clone was going out to eat with the blonde girl instead of him. She could eat so much ramen that there would be a ramen shortage.

If the girl ever became Hokage, she'd probably buy Konoha all the ramen from neighboring villages. When Obito realized there were now two blond people instead of one, he stopped thinking about Naruto and her damn ramen obsession. His sensei had approached them, mistaking Naruto's clone for him. She was going to pay a large price for this.

     He couldn't understand what they were saying, but Naruto was animatedly moving about. Her movements were enthralling, and it was hard not to notice her. She appeared to be telling his sensei about how she saved him while waving her arms above her head. He smiled softly at the memory, which was one of his favorites.

Then she was yanking on Minato's sleeve and making fighting motions. Obito assumed she was requesting for instruction on some techniques. The girl was a training maniac who never seemed to take a break. It was extremely concerning considering she was only fourteen.

Minato put his hands up in a placating gesture, and eye smiled. The blond man then allowed hisself to be dragged by Naruto, presumably to training ground seven. The Obito clone trailed behind them, clueless of the real Obito's plotting.

Obito knew that Naruto loved to learn new things, so he couldn't ruin that element for her. He would have to silently discard the clone and take his place.

The clone was sitting off somewhere under a tree, pulling at the grass. Obito walked up to him hastily, he'd been wanting to punch the imposter ever since he left with Naruto in hand.

He stood behind the boy, his fist raised. He hesitated slightly, the idea of hurting someone who wasn't paying attention nagging at the back of his head. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his fist. Grabbing the clones collar roughly, he spoke with disdain.

"I challenge you to a spar, identity thief."

The clone put his hands up in a surrendering way, and dismissed itself. Obito let out a breath of relief, and shoved his hands in his pockets. He went off to find Naruto and his sensei, his face settled into a distasteful frown.
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When he reached Naruto, she was playing with a water balloon, on a training ground, where she was supposed to be training. Obito was going to tease her about it, before it started doing something weird. The water started moving quickly inside the balloon, and pointing in all different directions.

His sensei, was jumping frantically and shaking Naruto's shoulders. Obito raised an eyebrow, and walked over to them.

"What's going on, sensei?" He made it a point to not speak to the blonde girl. He was pretty annoyed with her after she pulled the whole stunt.

His cheeks dusted pink when she looked at him though.

"Obito, I'm learning how to do Minato's technique!"

    Obito raised an eyebrow at her, and looked back at his sensei. He gently eye smiled and explained what she meant further.

"Naruto here is learning the 'Rasengan,' it's very impressive that she's gotten to stage two, within a day." He paused, before smiling a bit more, "she may be the prophet my master spoke about."

   Obito's eyes flitted towards her, and he noticed her shoulders were stiffened. Her eyes held shock, although her lips were only gently parted. Obito nodded at his sensei, though his eyes still lingered on Naruto, searching for any other form of a reaction. The technique was brilliant to use in battles. Maybe she was nervous under his sensei's praise. But there was a question tugging at his brain..

"How long did it take you to learn, Minato-sensei?"

  Minato moved his right hand to his hip, and his left rested on his chin. "About two, maybe three years."

   Obito gaped, and turned to Naruto who was picking at the lint on her orange jumpsuit. He was going to talk to her, but decided to leave her alone, she seemed to be zoned out.

   Minato ruffled Obito's hair affectionately, before disclosing that he had to be at the dinner table within ten minutes. Kushina would have his head, Obito stifled a laugh.

  He trudged over to Naruto slowly as if he was going to frighten her, and sat beside the blonde girl. She was staring off into space, her shoulders sagged.

   Obito touched her arm as if she was made of glass, "Hey, what's going on?"

"Do you know of time?"

   He nervously fidgeted, the air was tense. He never felt this way around her before. It was suffocating.

  He started to repeat his previous question, before he thought into hers. Of course he knew of time, who didn't?

"What about time is troubling you?"

   When she finally looked at him, her eyes were foggy. He's never seen her like this before, she looked defenseless. Looking nothing like the blonde inferno he'd seen the day he almost died, she sat vulnerably beaten.

  He subconsciously inched back, because who knew her eyes could be so intense? He felt the sudden need to walk away, this seemed like a conversation he wasn't wise enough for. He didn't want to seem like an idiot, and it felt as if she was growing each day. He couldn't compare.

   But he stayed, watching as her breathing patterns began to speed up. She was hunched over, sobbing now before him. Large, messy tears rolling down her whiskered cheeks, her face dirty from training and her body battered.

  She finally looked human, he'd thought of her as some sort of god for a while now. She was always happy, and always giving advice. She was strong, pretty, and independent. Her flaws lay empty in his brain, but before him her flaws were laid out like a deck of cards.

  But if she was pretty then, she was beautiful now. He reached out to comfort her, hands shaking slightly. He pulled her in, and allowed her tears to wet his shirt. Obito's arms laid protectively around her as the sun began to meet the horizon.

   He couldn't think of any day more perfect.

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A/N: I have severe writers block.