Chapter Text
Perhaps it was a folly.
Or perhaps it was a boon.
On the date of Japan’s Ghost Festival that happens to coincide with the Taoist’s Ghost Festival, a babe was born. Under the bright moon, the shrill cry of an infant echoed in the nearly empty hall.
With a billowing surge of curse energy, one that defied the heavens, but eyes as red as the gate of Yomi, a paradox of paradox was born.
Oh to be blessed by the Underworld but to be revered in the mortal realm.
For one Okkotsu Hisa, she sees the beauty in her child.
The beauty in their legacy.
She cried, not out of grief, but out of joy.
A paradox.
Gleaming tears marring her bright face, she smiled down at her infant. An infant whose cries are as loud as the drums in the night as the people of each clans celebrated both their ancestors and her heir.
And yet, the moment that the infant sees her smile, it smiled bright and wide. A shining smile that stretches into the abyss between it’s gummy mouth.
She cards her hand, trailing her fingers over the fair skin.
Pale skin, deep black hair and bloodstained ruby eyes.
Another paradox.
She laughs, soft and full of mirth. Isn’t it fair for her to name him as a paradox as well?
“Yes.” She whispered. “I know exactly what to name you.”
The infant tilted its head with intelligent eyes. Blessed eyes that have not been seen in their clan for more than ten centuries if records were to be believed.
And so, on August 15th 1989, Okkotsu Kaiya was born.
“May you learn forgiveness.” She kissed his temple. “May your enemies beg for your forgiveness.” Another kiss. “ And may you grant your allies the same, my Kaiya.”
Another paradox.
With the blessed Samsara Eyes that can peer all souls and their inherited technique, her son would be unparalleled. None would equal him but that of a Gojo with Six Eyes and Limitless.
But that haven’t been seen in four hundred years. Wouldn’t it be hilarious for the heavens to grant that the same year her son was born. Would that make it a fourth paradox?
It doesn’t matter.
Her son would be great.
Her son would be loved.
And her son would bring honour back to their clan. The Three Great clans would soon be four again. This will show those elders to stick to tradition.
“I hope your life would be blessed, my little Spider lily.”
The babe laughed.
_____________________________________
“Are you sure about this?” Caramel brown meets black as they sat on the field of flowers in the heavens abode.
Rin has always been a worrier.
She’s kind like that.
And yes, eternity with his friends is enjoyable. But, there are things that even death can’t part. Things that he still wishes to do. He glanced at Kakashi and Rin and gave them a consoling smile.
“If you do this, you might not come back.” Rin whispered, plucking the purple crocuses between her feet.
Such a fragile thing.
Beautiful yet frail.
Like everything in life, everything is transient in nature. And yet, the afterlife is eternal. And eternity stretches far and wide.
For people in the Pure Lands, though they might have regret, they don’t need to dwell on the darkness in their hearts. Not when you have eternity to mend and fill those holes in your chest. But for one Uchiha Obito, his life was filled with regrets. Holes after holes of mistakes that can’t be filled in the afterlife.
There’s no flowers in the heart of one Uchiha Obito.
It’s the same for that creature.
Kakashi doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. From the way he clung his knees tight to his chest and the crease in his brows, it’s clear he doesn’t like it either.
Obito gets it.
He was blindsided once. Deceived and used. He walked a horrible path and somehow, the Sage grants him a hero’s death and put him in the Pure Lands with them.
They’re worried.
Obito has always been naive at heart. He has always been bright. But even stars could collapse. And Obito collapsed upon himself into a blackhole of death and suffering. So when the Sage came to him and make a proposal, Obito jumped at it.
It’s not atonement.
It can never be atonement.
All the people he killed are here with him.
They linger in the same heaven that he does.
And as much as resentment and anger doesn’t last upon entering the Pure Lands, fear and weariness does. Obito chose to stay far from them. As a result, Kakashi and Rin joined him.
If he goes through with this, there’s a chance he can’t meet them again.
Each heaven is specific.
Each heaven is meant for different types of people.
If he’s reborn, he’s no longer a shinobi.
He can’t be granted the gates to the shinobi’s Pure Lands.
He’s not doing this because he wants Rin and Kakashi to be able to mingle with their friends and family without worrying about Obito.
More than that.
Obito wants to be able to live and fulfil his dream, whatever that new dream may be. He wants to be able to die a good person, a respectable person. And he wants, more than anything, to die and mingle amongst his treasured companions without guilt and regret.
Uchiha Obito has always been selfish. He’s always been stubborn. And hopefully, this time, his selfishness would bloom into a beautiful grandiose flower instead of an illusory flower on the barren soil of deception.
That and, when he looked at it, he can’t help but feel a sense of camaraderie.
Red eye with longing and sadness.
He no longer hates it.
He pities it.
He pities it because they’re the same.
So this time… This time he’ll do good. And this time, they’ll be friends.
“Yeah.” He smiled at Rin and Kakashi. They don’t need him anymore. They have each other now. “I’m sure.”
Rin nods, solemn but resigned. Kakashi’s pained look doesn’t recede but Kakashi should know by now that Obito’s a stubborn fool. He’s the most Uchiha of all Uchiha. He loves deeply, he feels deeply and he’s more stubborn than them all.
They rose, walking alongside him as the green pasture shifts to soft earth. Obito took long strides with hands behind his head. He doesn’t wait for Kakashi and Rin. He feels elated, anxious and hopeful.
He saw it, one red eye and ten tail curling over itself, alone on the barren soil. He kneeled, poking it by the head.
“Hey.”
The creature opened its eye and rolled them. Huffing before turning away. Rin’s still weary and Kakashi’s hackles are up but Obito knows better. He had spent years getting to know the beast in the Pure Lands.
“I’m thinking of saying yes.” He said, ignoring the creature’s attempt at dismissing him. “But, I think we should be friends first. Don’t you think?”
The creature huffed, growling due to its disturbed nap time. It thrills, a cacophony of broken sound and uneven tone. It’s a shame that it can’t even talk. It’s just another tool, just like Obito was. A seed cultivated by tainted hands until they blossom and the flower that blooms is not a medicine but poison that could tilled the land with blood and grant the gardener their selfish obsession.
“Why don’t I give you a name?”
The creature’s ears perked up, a long floppy thing resembling a brown rabbit. It’s actually cute if you give it a chance. A brown rabbit with a conch shell back, ten tails with hands attached and one singular red eye in the middle of it’s face.
“Fuji.” Obito smiled, kneeling in front of it with a sharp smile. The rabbit lifted its head, peeking at him with hidden interest. “It means prosperous. It can also mean peerless. Cause nobody’s as strong and as special as you.”
The creature twitched its nose and Obito takes it as a win.
Kakashi sighed behind him, pushing his hair back. “You’re really doing this.”
Obito nodded again without looking at them. He ruffled the rabbit creature’s head with his fingers. “He deserves a chance too don’t you think? He doesn’t know what it means to be alive and I…” Obito pursed his lips. “I think he can do better. Be better. If all the Bijuus can, that’s just proof right?”
“Aho-ito.” Kakashi grumbled and Rin smacked him for that.
Obito doesn’t care. “I promise, I will never use you. You’ll be my friend and I will never treat you as a tool. Ever again.” He’ll make sure in this new life, he’ll do better.
They both will.
_____________________________________
The first thing Obito — No. Kaiya — noticed is that his memories are in tact.
It’s good.
It means he would remember his mistakes. He would learn from them. He won’t make the same mistakes again. The second one is that he’s been born in a clan, again. This time, he has a mother. A beautiful woman with cold expression but warm eyes. The clan’s no different than that of the Uchiha. Black hair and deep black eyes on sculpted pale features.
Though the Uchiha has always been beautiful, male and female alike, his new clan seemed regal and otherworldly. He dares say that his mother looked likes Itachi’s mother, Mikoto-obasan. But his mother, perhaps it’s bias, is more beautiful. Sharper jawlines and slender neck with silky black hair tied in a braid.
“Are you not hungry my little Spider Lily?” She asked.
Her warm voice that sung in the air when she named him made him cry. If this is his new life, he’ll cherish her for the rest of it. All he asked from Kami-sama is that she lives long and well.
‘Live long and well and I’ll make you proud.’
He doesn’t know Obito’s parents. He doesn’t care about them anymore. But for this one, this new life, he won’t take things for granted.
Obito — Kaiya huffed. He’s starving but, just because he’s a baby doesn’t mean he has no shame. His mother is traditional. Opting to breastfeed and an infant might have no qualms in that. But an infant who grew and died and was reborn with his past memories…
Well, Obito has shame.
But he’s Kaiya now.
And as Kaiya, he has to suck it up and drink because stupid babies can’t eat dango or candies. He grumbled, reluctantly accepting the meal that was offered.
Oh, the horror!
It’s with this dawning realisation that he heard it. The broken laughter behind his mind.
‘Fuji?’
The broken sound stopped and grunted.
Ah… His friend made it. Not that the beast would admit it but still, it’s nice to know he’s not alone. He lets his mother’s soft fingers lull him into sleep as he closed his eyes. He opened them to the scene of his mindscape. He heard of it from Kakashi. Heard how each Jinchuuriki have them. Obito never did enter his when he hosted the Juubi.
But Kaiya…
Kaiya’s not going to make the same mistake. He knows what it’s like to be a tool and he won’t let him or his friend become one again.
It’s a shame that even in his mindscape, he’s an infant. He admired the clear blue starless sky with glistening moon and the soft pond with grass edges with his tiny eyes. He turned to the beast that’s sleeping on the water underneath the soft glow.
Fuji still has a thing for the moon.
It’s going to take some time for him to accept that he was never loved.
Kaguya doesn’t love him. Kaguya loves Tenji and Hagoromo and Hamura… But Kaguya doesn’t love him.
He was a means to an end.
A power source.
A guaranteed revenge.
A prison key.
It would take some time but, he’ll make Fuji happy. In this lifetime and the next.
‘Fuji?’ The rabbit beast looked at him with that singular red eye. It chirped, almost amused at the infant in front of it. As if asking ‘you think you can do anything to me in that body?’
He’s not going to harm Fuji. The beast needs to understand that.
But he supposed that the fact that Fuji hasn’t tried to swallow him whole is a great first step. Maybe naming him has a part. After all, even his mother never named him.
‘How’re you doing?’
The beast rolled it’s eyes and went back to sleep. Kaiya supposed that’s enough for today. He’ll try again tomorrow.
_____________________________________
The third thing Kaiya realised is that he’s special.
Oh how the tables have turned and he can’t tell whether to laugh or cry. But he’s a baby so maybe he can do both.
He thought it was normal that he could see his Kaa-san’s chakra — or cursed energy as they’re called here. He could see all of theirs and they ebbed and flow in various colours, distinct for each person. But his family, his clan, they have the same hue. Their chakra has shades of red and Obito was an Uchiha so he can differentiate the shades of red.
It has nothing to do with the blood stained road on one moonlit night. Nothing to do with Old Man Taka grabbing his feet and begging, asking, why did he do this.
It has nothing to do with the tears running Itachi’s face as Obito wondered ‘Why are you crying?’ because ‘You chose this.’ And at the time, any and all sins, great and small can be justified as a good deed if it was for ‘World Peace.’
It’s human nature, to always have a self-affirming bias as to rid themselves of guilt and absolves their sins. But the heavens do not care for our internal prejudice nor our biases. For the heavens are just and their standards are beyond mortal comprehension.
He came to this realisation one night when his mother’s reading to him. Stories of his clan and techniques. This world is different yet similar to his old one. He has yet to ascertain whether they are in the future or in a different plane. The Sage is a man of vague statements and contradicting actions. It makes him look wise to others but skeevy to Obito.
There’s techniques, there’s clans and there’s fighting. But rather than fighting others like him, he’s fighting monsters. Actual monsters.
Curses as they’re called. Creatures born of the amalgamation of all things wrong, disgusting, vile and rancid. These creatures have no conscience.
They have no love.
They’re nothing more than beasts with heightened intelligence and strengths which is driven by instinct.
And that instinct is to inflict pain on people and kill.
Kaiya supposed it’s a blessing this time.
Because there’s no war between shinobi and there’s no war for world domination. Just a regular routine of maintaining the balance of the world and ensuring that the ones who are not able to defend themselves are protected. It’s mundane but Obito have always strived on routine.
It’s a good distraction and it’s a good life.
“My sweet smart child.” Kaa-san brushed his hair.
He supposed somehow his mother realised that an infant Kaiya may be, he is more aware and intelligent than his peers. Maybe it’s because he’s blessed. Or maybe it’s normal.
It has to be right? Because if Obito had ever meet a baby that can understand his plans for world domination, he’s not afraid to drop kick the child from the top of the Hokage mountain out of sheer creepiness. But to his mother, his Okaa-san, she seemed to take it well. In fact, she took his intelligence to educate him even before he could speak.
“The Kamo has their blood. The Zen’in have their contracts and the Gojo have their infinity.” Her words treading a story line a gentle needle looping through the yarn of wisdom and old. She reminded him of this line night by night. Not as a form of a manipulation.
No.
Obito’s used to manipulation.
Madara was manipulative. Madara would ingrain in him every day the cruelty and filth of the world whilst simultaneously revelling in his hypocrisy.
Madara would kick him down a cliff at one point and then throw him a compliment the next. And Obito — young, foolish and starved for affection Obito — had taken the scraps and chew on the bones like a vulture hungry for love. Hungry for affection.
So, yeah. Obito knows manipulation. And he remembers them well. His mother is not manipulative. She’s reciting, educating, and reminding him of how blessed he is. How he is different but not in a bad way.
“We Okkotsu have our technique. We are like the Gojo but in all the opposite way. Where the Gojo is blessed by the heavens, we are blessed by the underworld.”
That doesn’t sound promising.
The only reason Kaiya’s not crying right now is because his mother seemed unaffected by this seemingly disturbing revelation. And it is far more disturbing to be known that you are blessed by the literal Yomi when creatures of malevolent enigma exists.
“Do you want to know my child? The legacy that we have?” Mother asked, eyes gleaming with warmth.
Kaiya nodded as best as he could. There’s no need to hide his intelligence. Not when his mother seemed to be able to tell from the start. Maybe it’s that infamous mother’s intuition he heard about a lot. Or maybe it’s just his Kaa-san. Despite the lack of Sharingan, Kaa-san’s black eyes seemed more observant that those with.
“The Gojo have their Infinity but that’s not true. Their technique is called Limitless. It bends the space around them. The heavens give them the ability to manipulate space and matter because what is not more divine than the power to shape the world. ”
That’s scary. If there were ever a shinobi that could control matter, well, Obito would have pulled a Tobi and escaped in a cloud of dust instantly.
“But you see, to call forth Infinity, a Gojo needs to be blessed. They need to have the Rokugan and master Limitless. The Rokugan supposedly let them perceive the unseen and process things better. How true that is, we’re not sure. They say it’s a clan secret.”
Kaiya squinted his eyes. That sounds suspiciously like the Sharingan.
Kaa-san booped his nose and smiled and Kaiya couldn’t help but pout. His Kaa-san just chuckled. “But our clan’s technique is called Abyss. It’s because like the abyss, if you stares at it for long, it stares back. Let the blood of the underworld subsume all and swallows them in the bowels of hell. So our clan, we can copy techniques.”
That also sounds suspiciously like the Uchiha and Kaiya might just laugh and cry for real this time. Is he in the future? Have somehow the Uchiha blood diverged and created two clans? He can’t imagine it, a future build solely by Sasuke’s descendant. Because it can only be Sasuke. Itachi was a devoted elder brother who loved only one girl that had met death by Obito’s hand. He never loved another more. At times Obito suspect that Itachi loved his brother more than anyone.
Didn’t he kill the whole clan but his brother? Didn’t he razed the nations for his brother? Make himself a villain so his brother could survive. So his brother would hate him instead.
“You’ll learn how to do that when you’re older.” Kaa-san assured him. He’s not reassured at all. The Sharingan is a foul curse. A stain that maddens the Uchiha and he rather not gain them ever again.
But he’s intrigued. At least in part due to his mother’s story.
How are they the same again?
The Gojo summons Infinity if they’re blessed. What about the Okkotsu? Is the technique ingrained? Something on his face must have shown because mother gave him a soft chuckle.
“You see, our clan also have an ocular blessing.” Fuck. They have a dojutsu. “It’s called the Rinnegan. The Eyes of Samsara.”
Oh he really wants to cry. He knows that name. He remembers lavender eyes with rings of perpetual motion. Rings that grant you control over all things alive.
He remembered Nagato.
Was this his Karma for playing the Uzumaki descendant like a fool?
Please, no.
“Like the Gojo, our clan’s eyes are given at birth.”
He stopped his panic. The thought of a dojutsu given by birth sounds just like the Byakugan. Maybe it’s not the same. Maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t have to get crushed by a boulder, loose his love, or kill his kin and…
Rin. Rin. Rin.
“You are blessed my Spider Lily. When you were born, you gained those eyes.” Kaa-san picked up a mirror next to her bedside and gently reflect them against his face. He could see them now. He could see red, deeper than the Sharingan, but brighter somehow.
It doesn’t look like the Rinnegan.
It’s just red.
Glistening like rubies and he swore he can see the facets reflected in his eyes. And his face. This is the first time he’s seen his face.
He has his mother’s face.
Softer, chubbier round the edges but that’s her nose and her sharp brows.
He’s beautiful.
But his hair…. It’s a mess. Obito’s hair has always been a mess, as opposed to the other Uchihas. But this, this tops it off.
It’s not silky straight like his Kaa-san. It’s slightly wavy but curled at the edges. Could it be an influence by his father? The only similarity with his Kaa-san is that it’s black. But even then, it’s darker than the night sky. Like if you lay it over any other surface, it would look like all the light had been absorbed and Kaiya thinks, this too is a sign that he’s been blessed by the underworld.
“The Rinnegan would make you stronger. It turned our Abyss technique into Yomi. There’s not much record about it. You’ll learn more. But for now,” Kaa-san placed the mirror down on his tummy, “live well. Grow well. And I’ll be happy if you could live as comfortably as you desire.”
Kaiya smiled.
His Kaa-san’s the best.
He’s blessed.