Obito sat in a chair, her hand rubbed her forehead as she let out a deep breath.

Zetsu had been watching Naruto, a clone had been with her, updating her on the things the blonde turned brown haired boy was up to, and to say she was surprised was an understatement.

The boy had killed one of his previous friends, a shock to her, since he didn't seem like the type to kill someone he once knew. The boy had also killed ten Anbu soldiers by himself.

Sure, she had done the same thing when she was his age five years ago, but that was when she was in a crazed frenzy.

Naruto had kept his cool until he was alone with the Nara boy. He left no witnesses, killing everyone besides the ones he was friendly with, leaving no trace of himself.

She was pleased and agitated.

He wasn't supposed to fight, he was only to supposed to infiltrate and steal some scrolls, not kill a whole squadron of Anbu and the heir to the Nara clan for crying out loud!

She sighed before standing up, making Zetsu stand at attention.

"Obito-sama, what are we going to do now? Naruto is surely strong now. Perhaps stronger than you were when he was your age." She pondered upon that and nodded.

"He's ready. But first we have to kill the weaker members first. From what I've heard Sasori was killed by his own grandmother and a pink haired girl that knocked Naruto's arm off, Deidara was killed by himself fighting Itachi's little brother. Who do you suggest Zetsu?"

Zetsu's eyes widened in shock as he looked at his master. She had never asked for his opinion, even though he was full of them.

"I would suggest maybe going after Hidan and Kakuzu. Or maybe just one fo them. To kill an immortal, it would be a great feat." Obito nodded absently.

"Yes, let's go after that nuisance Hidan and his money obsessed partner." She said before she put on her orange swirled mask. "Thank you, Zetsu." She said before disappearing in a vortex.

She reappeared in front of Naruto, who was walking on a deserted path towards the hideout.

"Naruto. . ." She said. "Good work on infiltrating Konoha and killing ten Anbu. It was quite a feat." Naruto smirked under his mask.

"Thanks Tobi, I try."

"But it was also foolish." Tobi said, slicing through Naruto's happiness almost instantly, his voice hardened. "You could've been killed, they could've gotten reinforcements and then what? You certainly couldn't take on the whole military of Konoha, they're the most powerful village in the world for a reason you know."

Naruto held his ground. "They were asking for it, practically asking for their blood to be spilt! Besides, I've already gotten a step ahead of our task, I killed Itachi Uchiha!" Tobi's heart dropped at hearing that.

"You did what?"

"I killed Itachi Uchiha. I even took his eyes too. Mangeykou's are powerful right? Well now we have three in total. What you want to do with them is beyond me though."

"You killed Itachi? Did you really?" He asked quickly. If Naruto actually killed Itachi, then Naruto was much stronger than she had anticipated. He may even be on par with her if this was true! Perhaps he was ready for more tasking missions than she thought.

"Yep, it was hell of a fight though. He was strong, way stronger than Hatake, even trapped me in his damn Tsukyomi for three whole days, stabbing me over and over again, then he used this big orange reddish thingy, but I guess he was already weak since he broke it off easily. Then I killed him."

"Give me the eyes." Naruto handed her the scroll containing the eyes of the one known as Itachi Uchiha. "This is good, very good. He had very powerful eyes. Good job, Naruto. But we have a mission to do."

Naruto lifted an eyebrow under his mask.

"And what's that?"

"We're going to kill some immortals."

Flashback

"You're doing good." Obito said as she looked at Naruto's tree. He was now able to produce trees that were at least thirty feet in length and two feet wide, something that she hadn't been able to do for a whole year, and here he was doing it six months into the training.

"Thanks, I try." He said, the grin on his face not reaching his eyes. She noticed this and quickly pulled up a chair.

"What's wrong Naruto?" She asked, her deep voice resonating throughout the cave. Naruto shook his head, the same, stupid smile plastered on his face.

"Nothing. I'm just a little worn out." He lied easily. Obito frowned under her mask and poked the boy in the chest.

"Don't lie to me." She said sternly. "You know how I feel about that." She said, looking at the boy, concern in her eyes.

Naruto frowned. "I'm just sad."  Obito raised an eyebrow at that under her mask. He always seemed so. . . happy to her. Always smiling and goofing off.

"Why?" Naruto gave her another fake smile, causing her frown to deepen.

"I don't know, I've always felt this way deep down. Sometimes I just get really sad, and I think about things."

"Like what Naruto?"

"Like maybe I shouldn't have faked my death that day. Maybe I should've actually died. Then the world would be better off ya know?" Obito couldn't believe her ears. This happy go lucky boy, then one that seemed to cheer up this empty cave, thought about suicide.

"How often do you think that?" She asked quietly. Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Maybe about once a day? Maybe twice if things aren't going my way." He answered.

"Naruto," Obito spoke softly, before a loud slapping sound could be heard and a small thumping sound as the blonde boy landed on his but, looking at Obito with wide eyes, his hand on his left cheek. "Don't you ever, ever say something like that again. Actually, don't even think about it. If you died. . ." She said, her voice wavering as she found herself choking up.

What was this? Why did her eyes burn? Why did her throat feel like it was about to be crushed from a force that wasn't physical, and why did her body feel like it had a heavy weight inside of it? Then she realized something.

She cared about Naruto.

At first this was nothing but to help the boy gain power and to take down the Akatsuki before she would cast him aside, but now? Now the idea hurt. It hurt her more than any wound she's ever received since that day half her body was crushed.

Life was cruel.

"If I died what? You'd just find somebody else to take my place right? I'm expendable." Naruto explained casually as if he told himself that in the mirror everyday after waking up.

"No!" Obito shouted. "You are not expendable, no one would take your place! If you died, I'd be sad and alone!"  Naruto's eyes widened.

"You'd be sad, if I died?" He asked. Obito nodded. Naruto then smiled, a true, bright smile that seemed to light up the whole cave.

"Of course Naruto, we're partners." Naruto stood back up, the grin never leaving his face.

"Thanks Tobi, that means a lot!" Obito let a small smile cross her face., unaware of the tint of red that was dashed across her cheeks.

Yep, the next three and a half years would be interesting.

Flashback End

"So, who're these guys again? Kidan and Hakuzu?" Naruto said incorrectly, making Tobi want to facepalm.

"It's Hidan and Kakuzu. They're the supposed immortals. Hidan is a Jashinist, he is weak, but makes up for it with his ability to stay alive no matter what wound is caused. Kakuzu is more of a mystery. All I know is that he was cast out of his village, Taki, after he lost a fight with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."

"What did they expect? The man was the most powerful ninja known to the ninja world." Tobi nodded, pleased that Naruto took his history lessons well.

"How will we even find these guys? I mean, I know you're the secret leader of Akatsuki and everything, but shouldn't it even be a little hard to find them?" Tobi shook his head.

"No, because they have to update where they are and their progress and catching the Jinchuuriki. Currently, they're heading for Kumo, to capture the Nibi from a woman named Yugito Nii." Naruto nodded.

"Cool, but could you um, vortex us there or something? I mean, this is gonna be a super long walk don't ya think? All the way to Kumo?" Naruto suggested, hoping to get the man to agree.

"If I use Kamui to go that far of a distance, then my chakra will be depleted, and that'll be crucial to defeating Kakuzu at least. He is over one-hundred years old." Naruto sighed and shrugged at the same time.

"I guess that makes sense. Fine, but if you get tired don't you dare try to get me to give you a piggy back ride!" He shouted.

Obito chuckled under her mask.

This would be entertaining.

And done! Was it good? Bad? Tell me!

Anyways, double upload because I was motivated to do so. I'm thinking of when to really reveal that Obito is a girl to Naruto, but I can't really do it this early in the story, but I also want to build a romantic relationship with them, and Naruto can't/won't do that if he thinks Obito is a guy.

So, any thoughts or suggestions? I'm always welcome to here them as well as constructive criticism.

I also got some cool ass stickers that have the cover of this book on them, and I think I might do a giveaway of somesort. Remember that you can always get a sticker if you become a patreon! The first five, no matter how much you donate, will get a free sticker of the cover to this book.

But yeah, I gotta come up with some sort of contest.

Maybe I'll announce it next chapter? It'll most likely be for artist. I need a cover lol.

Anyways, yeah.

Til next time my lil demons!