I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 35 | Broken Mirrors Are Bad Luck

Obito was to meet Minato on one of the dozens of tiny islands surrounding the area they were supposed to be investigating. According to Fugaku, Minato was instructed to stay there until his Uchiha backup arrived.

Obito was all too aware that Minato would sense him getting closer. As he ran across sea and small patches of land, he half-expected his sensei to appear beside him at any moment, demanding to know what Obito was doing in Water.

But Minato didn't appear. And that somehow made Obito feel even more nervous as he approached the little spit of land just outside the jamming mist.

Heeding Fugaku's instructions, Obito activated his Sharingan and carefully inspected the ground, the undergrowth, and the trees. He didn't see any traps—or any other signs of life, for that matter.

But then Obito heard a soft bird call, and he looked up. Minato dropped down and landed silently a few feet away from him. Obito hadn't noticed him at all.

"You're late," Minato said, voice lowered. Obito imitated him.

"Sorry, I—Fugaku and Sandaime-sama picked me to help. To back you up however I can, sens—um, taichou." Despite all the missions they'd already done, being there as something more like an equal suddenly hit Obito, making him stumble over his words.

"I thought that must be it. I'm surprised, but it seems you're just as surprised." Minato paused, thinking. "What are your instructions?"

Obito straightened his spine and tried to look as professional as possible. "I'm supposed to scout ahead and report what I find to you. Then I can go home, or, um... 'await further instruction as Minato-taichou sees fit'."

Despite everything, Minato gave a small, amused smile. "You don't have to be so formal. We're a team, just as we've always been. I don't expect Kakashi or you to address me any differently."

Obito sagged in relief. "Fugaku thought I'd be good for this mission because we can find each other easily without having to communicate. And I can jump out right away if anything happens."

Minato nodded. "I see. I might have come up with the same idea if you were someone else's student. Sorry for overlooking you like that, Obito."

Obito's cheeks were burning, but he busied himself adjusting his goggles to try to hide it. "It's no big deal. It's usually everyone except you, so I can forgive it this once." He only faced Minato again when he thought he could do it without breaking into an idiotic grin. "So what is the situation here? Did you ever find those guys from Iwa?"

"No," Minato said, seriousness returning to his eyes. He looked out over the water. The jamming mist began gradually, but it turned into a veritable wall of swirling gray not far from where they stood. "It seems no one outside of Kiri has been able to make it further than this. I only found this spot by tracking the tags of the deserters. My Hiraishin works this far in, but I can't sense anything else beyond the mist. Judging by what I felt when their signatures disappeared, and where, I don't think it was the mist that caused it. They were killed by something on the other side. Given what we know about Kirigakure's location, I think it could be a stronghold they want to keep both protected and nearby. A base, maybe, or a prison."

Obito tried to remember anything useful from his last visit to Kirigakure. But he and Naruto had always been inside the village.

Minato continued. "Since the village itself is a fortress, I'm hoping it's the latter. It could mean that some of the people we lost in battle or scouting across the border could still be alive. The mist could be partly to prevent escape. But we won't be able to move forward until we know what it is. Sandaime-sama sent even more people out to widen the scope of what we know and find another way in, but things like this can be valuable too."