A/N: This has been written under a previous title as "Embracing Originality" but I had to change a lot of things as I am trying to continue it. I was unsatisfied with how I started it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters or the image shown above.

Warning: crude language, slight shounen-ai/BL (Boy Love),

Pairing: Obito Uchiha & Naruto Uzumaki, slight Kakashi Hatake & Naruto Uzumaki

Summary: Obito has spent all of his waking hours to go back to a time in which he could be happy. But life has a funny way of dealing him a losing hand. Or Naruto is just an anomaly in which probabilities can't calculate the extent of his unpredictability.

Paradox

Part I/X

Encounters of a Strange Kind

"Why do we need to bring him along?"

Minato sighed loudly and rubbed his temples in annoyance at his aggravating student. Rin rolled her eyes exasperatedly while Kakashi merely inspected their newly acquired teammate who stood beside his sensei reticently. The teenage boy looked so much like the man that if Kakashi didn't know any better he would have thought Naruto was Minato's son.

"Because Obito we need the extra man-power for this mission." Minato explained sternly. Obito glared at the boy, his dislike very apparent but the reason behind it not so much.

"We have all the man-power we need. We don't want him." Obito spoke haughtily. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him.

"What's your problem, asshole?" Naruto snarled, walking the few steps needed to be in Obito's face. However, the boy didn't even flinch as he leaned closer as well, hands balling into fists at his sides.

"You're what's my problem, punk." Obito spat out angrily. Naruto growled and before he could wipe the smug look off the bastard's face a firm hand on his shoulder pulled him back.

"Knock it off you two." Minato reprimanded, giving both boys a hard look.

"Honestly Obito, do you really have to pick a fight with him? Leave him alone already!"

Obito glanced at his teammate, all earlier anger dissipating in that very instant as he stared at her. She looked so cute when she was flustered! Beside her his bastard rival shook his head.

"Okay you guys, let us begin introductions! Naruto, you go first!"

Naruto glared up at the evil blond man that looked too much like himself before staring at the other three teens who were watching him with mixed expressions of boredom and curiosity.

"My name is Naruto. Please take care of me." he said lamely, already knowing that the opposite was the likeliest scenario here when Obito already seemed to dislike him and Kakashi looked as interested in him as a sack of potatoes.

He started at Rin's abrupt squeal of delight.

"He looks just like you Minato-sensei! Are you two related?" she questioned while raking her eyes up and down Naruto's suddenly very timid form. Minato chuckled nervously, suddenly becoming very self-aware under his team's scrutiny.

There was no denying how similar their appearances were. On their way over here they had turned many heads and caused many sets of eyes to bulge almost comically. Minato had had to reassure too many people that no, he had not fathered a son outside of his relationship with Kushina and yes, Kushina did know about Naruto and no, he was not lying.

"While it appears that way Naruto is actually from Takumi no Sato. My mentor, Jiraiya, brought him back here to become a Konoha shinobi." While it wasn't too far away from the truth he noticed the almost imperceptible narrowing of Kakashi's eyes. His countenance did not waver and he kept his eyes focused on Rin. Kakashi was too skilled for his own good sometimes...

"You haven't introduced yourself yet, Rin." he innocuously pointed out, ignoring Obito's mumbling of - "What was that pervert doing all the way out there anyway?" - and causing Rin to flush in embarrassment.

The girl straightened her posture, all traces of her previous girlish behavior vanishing as she smiled politely at Naruto.

"My name is Nohara Rin! I am the medic-nin of this team. It's really nice to meet you, Naruto!" he flashed the girl his pearly-whites, his earlier bashfulness slowly disappearing in the face of such welcoming friendliness.

"Uchiha Obito." Obito begrudgingly introduced himself without meeting the other boy's eyes and instead chose to glare at the ground next to him.

"Hatake Kakashi." the other boy stated nonchalantly and Naruto nodded in his direction. This Kakashi was going to be just as swell as the older one, he could just tell. Nothing a little Naruto-magic wouldn't fix, he surmised.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Minato decided to clear his throat.

"Well our first assignment as a team shouldn't be too difficult. It's true that we are currently in trying times but this mission is of great urgency and was specifically given to us by Hokage-sama." Minato stated with disconcerting eyes. They all perked up and leaned in simultaneously. "Which means we must give it our all. Its a low-ranking mission but that does not mean it's any less important, understand?"

All four of them nodded, their impatience getting the best of them as they waited to be given more information.

"Understood, sensei. Where will we be going and what will our objective be?" Rin was the first to ask the questions that were running through all their heads. She would have rolled her eyes at her sensei's dramatics if the situation wasn't so grim.

Minato gave them a stern look before pulling out a scroll from the pockets of his flak jacket. He opened it and placed it on the ground. They all crouched around him, eyes hardened with determination.

"We will be travelling east." he pointed to a spot on the roughly drawn map. He waited for their collective understanding before continuing.

"While we may not be fighting the Land of Water currently please understand that their village is at civil war. Any skirmishes with their shinobi must be avoided at all cost least we want their attention directed at us. Luckily our mission takes place a bit away from from Kirigakure so we won't need many preventative measures."

"So it's kind of like an infiltration mission but...not?" Obito asked and Naruto hated to admit he was a bit lost too.

"Basically just don't let any of their shinobi see you, you idiot." Kakashi quipped and picked at his ear, preparing himself for the shouting match Obito was prone to having.

"Shut up, Kakashi! Nobody asked you!"

Minato sighed. Well, he'd manage to keep their attention longer than usual…

Rin had a hand on her face as she watched her teammates begin their many squabbles. Minato looked to her left where Naruto stood watching them as well but his expression was one he didn't expect. The boy looked so…despondent.

"Who is he?"

As expected, the question is met with a resonating silence. Jiraiya was leaning against the windowsill of the hospital room, arms crossed and posture stiff all the while looking at him with such a steely gaze that something inside him felt adjacent. Actually, the entire situation was giving him disquieting vibes. It left him on-edge.

"All you need to know is that I found him. Whether he is a threat to us or not is entirely up to you, Minato."

He glanced at the motionless body of a boy that looked to much like him. His body was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, his scarred face so serene and innocent that it made his hands shake with the barest of trembles. He tore his eyes away and looked at Jiraiya again, narrowing his eyes at the way he favored his left side.

"What do you mean it's up to me? Why would you bring him here in the first place if you didn't know?" This whole thing was making his head hurt. He'd never been one to question his mentor's idiosyncrasies but this-...this was too eccentric even for him.

"Once he's better Sarutobi will be placing him in your team and assigning you a mission. You can accept it or you can reject it. However, if you are to reject this mission his fate will be predetermined by Danzo."

The atmosphere was cold and foreboding and it paralyzed him.

"We both know how that will turn out."

Jiraiya went to exit the room but stopped just short of him.

"I trust your decision, Minato."

He left and Minato stood there and was gripped with the unspoken words.

"Seriously guys, sensei hasn't even told us the objective!" Rin whined and Minato snapped from his musings before they could go any further.

Coughing into his hand he addressed his team again. The yelling stopped and their eyes were back on him in an instant.

"Yes, well, once we get to our destination we must locate two individuals, one man and one woman. They go by the names of Haruto and Maiko. For now I will leave the explanation to that, got it?"

A chorus of "Hai!" was enough for him to nod at them and readjust his pack.

"Let's move out."

…

…

…

"Oh Kami-sama, we've been walking for almost seven hours now. Can we take a rest already, sensei?" Obito groaned and fell to the ground face-first for dramatic affect. His feet were hurting and the sun had just started to set, abandoning its post in the sky from boring down rays of scorching heat onto their backs.

His two teammates walked passed him and then suddenly there was a sharp jab at his side. Obito yelped and sat up, glaring at a snickering Naruto who continued on walking.

Ahead of Naruto, Rin slouched and wiped her sweaty forehead. The Land of Fire was such a large country and it was unfortunate that their mission landed right in the dead of summer.

"I agree with Obito this time, sensei. We should stop to set up camp for the night before it gets too dark." She confessed and beside her Naruto nodded his head in agreement. Minato glanced at them momentarily before sighing in defeat, changing their course and experimentally taking a whiff of the air.

Luckily, he smelt the faint trace of freshwater and redirected his team deeper south. They reached a fairly small clearing within the woodlands and it was a couple of yards away from the water. They set their things down onto the forest floor, three out of the four letting out relieved sighs and rubbing their aching shoulders.

"I'm going to check the perimeter. I'll be back in five to ten seconds." Minato disappeared within the trees and Naruto raised an eyebrow at Rin.

"Doesn't he mean five to ten minutes?" he questioned her and she simply chuckled, but it was Kakashi who answered his inquiry.

"No, he meant seconds."

"But how-" Naruto was interrupted by a large hand clamping his shoulder and a firm body pressing closely against his back.

"I'm back." A deep voice whispered in his ear, tickling the strands of his blond hair and fanning breath into the shell of his ear.

"Gaaaaah!" Naruto instinctively jumped away from Minato and later, he would deny any and all accusations of shrieking like a little girl.

Minato laughed heartily at the boy's reaction, as did Rin and Obito. Kakashi merely looked amused as they watched Naruto angrily mutter about going to "get some damn water" and then proceeded to stomp off, canteen in hand.

Grumbling angrily to himself he knew his words held no real meaning to them. Coming to Konoha wasn't anything as he expected it to be, after all, and the outcome was a lot better than he'd originally imagined. For the past two months he'd been under Jiraiya's watch and tutelage.

While he had been undoubtedly overcome with joy at the prospect finally getting to train under Jiraiya (despite it being a younger version of the man he already knew) nothing could really keep the thought of home away from his mind for more than a day. Konoha, as he knew it, did not exist. Many of the people he'd known had not been born quite yet but their parents still roamed the streets like ghosts of what he was trying desperately to reach.

The water felt fresh against his heated skin. He let out a long sigh and let his stiff posture relax for a moment. His muscles ached from his involuntary tensing, unused to being surrounded by people who obviously distrusted him.

Back at the camp Kakashi and Minato went around gathering branches and twigs for the fire while Obito went about trying to actually get the flame going with the little amount of burning material they had. He had been twirling a stick furiously within his palms when Rin came up to him, towel in hand and a brush in the other.

"I'm going to go wash all this dirt and sweat off me. Tell sensei I'll be back in thirty minutes." Obito nodded to her, still too engrossed with trying to make the hunk of log under his stick to create some sort of heat for the desired fire he wanted. He needed to finish before Kakashi came and took over.

A minute into it Obito suddenly paused. Wait a minute…Rin was going to bathe in the river….the same one Naruto had gone to ten minutes ago…and had yet to return from.

Oh shit!

It took awhile for it to click in his head but when it did, Obito was furious.He stood up and made to leave but stopped himself short. The fire…

Obito stared at it for a long while. He'd reached an impasse. Then-

"The fuck didn't I think about this before? I can use my katon jutsu!"

Making a few hand seals he shot the tiniest of fireballs at the pile of wood. The bark immediately caught on fire and Obito grinned, coughing out the excess smoke from his mouth. He didn't waste any more time in leaving to go save Rin from that new bastard's prying eyes.

"I'm coming Rin!" he shouted determinedly to no one in particular. In a matter of seconds he made it to the crystalline river, his eyes frantically searching for a head of spiky blond hair.

There! That peeping tom!

Obito found him half-hidden behind a boulder attached to the edge of the river. He also spotted Rin in the river a few feet away from Naruto. She probably hadn't seen the pervert yet since her bare shoulders was facing Obito and said pervert was hiding behind a rock, most likely peeping on her to get a glimpse of her womanly body.

Oh no you don't…he growled mentally before jumping off the tree branch he was on and stealthily darting toward Naruto.

He was only a few feet away from the other boy when his foot accidentally stepped on a twig and consequently snapped it in half. Naruto lifted his head at the sound only for his eyes to widen upon seeing Obito in the air all but flying toward him at a dangerous speed.

"Raaaahh!" Obito's battle cry rung through the air, disturbing the birds nesting in the trees and the squirrels living within their hollows. Rin snapped her attention to the ruckus and could only gap at what unfolded before her.

Naruto didn't have time to yell out his surprise when Obito's face collided right smack with his, causing the unimaginable that Naruto could only interpret as another repeat of what happened with Sasuke, but only this time it was with a different Uchiha.

Their lips made a loud smack upon impact.

Obito's mouth muffled Naruto's yelp as they both fell into the river from the force of the unexpected tackle. The water was cold and it prickled at their skin. They separated, their eyes comically the size of saucers. From above there were only glimpses of tan and pale skin and blond and black hair, their thrashing causing the water to bubble to the surface.

Tanned arms waved around frantically before finding Obito's hair and yanking on it with so much force that Obito yelped in pain causing water to rush into his open mouth. A wild fist tried in vain to hit him but Obito managed to catch it, the bubbles having since dissipated.

Consequently, it was also in that moment he noticed just how stark naked Naruto was, but he refused to let it affect him despite the blush that ran across his pale cheeks. Obito balled up his hand into a fist and gathered chakra into his arm, pushing through the weight of the water effortlessly.

Naruto gurgled and squirmed, raising his shoulder so the punch would land on there instead of his face. He winced slightly but gained composure when he pulled his trapped hand back and out of Obito's clutch. It was getting harder to breathe by the second but Naruto wouldn't let up until he taught that Uchiha bastard a lesson.

He let go of Obito's hair and kicked the boy in the abdomen. He then landed another chakra-infused kick to Obito's head.

Naruto saw the boy try to yell in pain but he took the chance to swim to the surface before Obito managed to drag him back. His lungs needed oxygen and quickly. Taking a big gulp of air once he reached the top he let his body sag into the ground, chest heaving.

"Obito!"

He sat upright, now noticing Rin on the other side of the river with a towel tightly wrapped around her body and her hands cupped around her mouth nervously. She was staring at the watery reflection of Obito's sprawled body in the depths of the river. Fear struck Naruto's heart when he didn't see the boy's body moving in the slightest, just simply sinking to the river floor.

He didn't hesitate to jump back in and he swam as fast as he could toward Obito. He wrapped an arm around the boy's waist and swam back to the surface. Dragging Obito's body through the water he heaved it onto the banks of the river before collapsing onto the ground in between Obito's legs.

Naruto was heaving once more, forcing air into his lungs to regulate his pounding heart. Obito appeared to have lost consciousness from the amount of water he took in and despite the fact that Naruto was shaken to his very core he placed his quivering and wet hands on the boy's chest.

He counted to three before pressing down, trying desperately to remember what Kakashi had taught him back in his old genin days. Naruto did it again, but there was still no response from Obito's paler-than-normal face.

"Shit!" he cursed, repeating the action a couple of more times.

Again, no response.

Naruto crawled higher up the other boy's soaking body, pinching Obito's nose with his fingers and pushing his chin down with his other. He tilted his own head to the side and leaned forward, enveloping his lips (once again, he thought to himself in irritation) with his own and breathing into him.

The response was immediate.

Obito coughed violently, water pushed through his throat and out of his mouth. Naruto pulled back and watched him intently, relief flooding within him as he watched the boy cough up the remains of the water he had swallowed.

"Well, this is certainly a sight to see…" someone muttered off to the side and Naruto snapped his head to stare at his three other teammates standing there with shocked expressions on their faces. Finally taking notice of the fact that he was still naked and practically sprawled on top of a coughing Obito made him blush a heavy shade of red.

He scrambled off the other boy and firmly placed his hands on his crotch to shield his precious jewels away from the other. Obito's coughing had ceased and it didn't take him long to realize their predicament.

"You fucking basta-"

…

…

…

"I swear I'm going to kill you."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the fourth empty threat Obito shot his way. The boy was currently sitting on the far end of the small clearing under a tree, knees pressed to his chest as he shivered within the towels and blankets wrapped around his trembling form. A trail of snot was hanging down his left nostril, coming right back down every time he sniffled. It added to the almost-drowned puppy look that he was pulling off at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah." he grunted in return, picking at the flames with his stick while Kakashi, who sat beside him, snorted. Obito turned his glare onto his rival, snarling at the pair of despicable 'teammates' he had.

"What're you snorting at, you bastard!?" Obito shouted and Rin watched the exchange between her male teammates worriedly while she chewed soundlessly on the fried fish her sensei had cooked for her.

"At your incompetence, you moron." Kakashi replied without missing a beat. Obito snarled and abruptly stood to point an accusatory finger at his rival.

"I'm not incompetent, you bastard! I oughtta punch your fac-"

"What are you so mad about anyway? I saved your life!" Naruto interrupted, having gotten fed up with Obito's voice. Honestly, he would have thought the boy would have been worshipping the very ground he walked on after the stupid stunt he pulled. But no, here Obito was cursing him to the seventh pit of hell for Kami-sama only knew what reason.

"You stole my first kiss! I was planning on giving that to…" he blushed heavily, casting a furtive glance at Rin who upheld her deadpan expression as she ate her dinner. "To someone, alright? But you stole it before I could!" his breathing was ragged now, normally pale face having turned a bright shade of cherry red. Rin sighed tiredly and closed her eyes while Kakashi shook his head.

Naruto looked at him incredulously, refraining from shaking the boy in order for him to come to his senses. The girl obviously wanted nothing to do with him. But before Naruto could judge Obito further, he paused. Well, Naruto supposed, he's a lot like me back then with Sakura-chan.

"It's not like it was my fault! You were the one who tackled me for no reason!" Naruto countered back which made Obito falter for a moment. But only for a moment.

"To stop you from peeping on Rin-chan, you pervert!" he rebutted.

Everything was deftly silent.

"O-Oh my…" she blushed and hid her face in her hands. Instead of becoming outrageously mad like Obito had thought Rin would get, she surprised him by shyly glancing in Naruto's direction. Meanwhile, Naruto didn't even spare her a look as he stood up and took a fighting stance in front of fire, the glowing flames accentuating the dark look he was giving Obito.

"What the fuck? I was not peeping in on Rin! I was washing off and then she came so I tried to sneak away before she got scared! Your dumbass came and tackled me right when I was drying off!"

Obito was about to say something else but then visibly deflated. Naruto did have a liable alibi….

…Well, shit. He thought, shifting uncomfortably under everyone's gaze. He had just successfully made himself look like the bastard instead of Naruto.

"…Yeah, well, you still stole my first kiss which belonged to someone else!"

Kakashi literally face-palmed and Rin groaned in exasperation. Naruto's lips twitched in amusement and his tense posture relaxed.

"It's not like she wanted to give it you anyway." Naruto responded impudently, arms crossed. It made Obito flush in embarrassment.

"Y-You don't know that-"

"Yes he does."

Naruto almost, almost, felt sorry as Obito looked heart-brokenly at Rin who was calmly sipping at her water-filled canteen, eyes downcast. Well, she didn't have to be so cold about it, Naruto thought with a wince, her blatant disregard of Obito's feelings reminding him too much of Sakura.

"R-Rin-chan…"

The kunoichi suddenly perked up, igniting Obito's hopes once more, but quickly extinguished them once again when all her attention was focused on Naruto.

"All this talk about Obito's first kiss has got me thinking, Naruto-chan," he grimaced at the suffix at the end of his name but said nothing and so she continued, "did Obito-baka steal your first kiss?"

Suddenly, all eyes were glued onto Naruto.

Even Minato, who had been dozing off atop a branch on the tree Obito had been leaning on, was openly staring at him in rapt interest. It was Naruto's turn to blush a pretty shade of pink, shifting nervously under everyone's gazes.

"O-Oh...well, you see, it's kind of complicated-"

Rin gasped loudly, eyes as wide as saucers and twinkling with that weird sparkle girls' always seemed to get when discovering a new topic of gossip. Beside her, Kakashi was trying desperately not to look interested but failed miserably as he couldn't help but stare at Naruto as well.

"Who did you kiss, Naruto-chan?" Rin pushed further, leaning dangerously close to the fire. Obito kept shifting his eyes onto her apprehensively. If she inclined any further she was surely going to fall in…

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, looking impish as he tried to sink into himself, hoping the earth below would just swallow him whole once and for all.

"A-Ano-saa…"

"Was she any good?"

Naruto's blush deepened and he really wished at that moment in time that he wasn't such a bad liar.

"I-It wasn't a girl…"

There was a stretched silence and Naruto took that chance to peek up at them. All three of them had shocked looks on their faces, mouths slightly agape, especially Obito's.

"You kissed another boy?!" Rin squealed in delight, hands cupping both of her cheeks as she bemoaned such a missed opportunity. Her teammates shot her strange looks as she continued to mumble to herself, her doe eyes sparkling as she lost herself to her imagination

Strange, Sakura and Ino react the same way with that kind of stuff….Naruto thought bemusedly. He coughed into his hand while his blush seemed permanently stuck on his face.

"It was an accident." he stated calmly but on the inside he was anything but. "Someone pushed me that time. I honestly don't know why these things keep happening to me." he scratched his head as he pondered all the questionable moments of his life.

He shrugged it off and no one else said anything but Obito, for some odd reason, couldn't help stare at him.

It's probably because he's kind of...cute...he thought, watching the flame incandescing along Naruto's face. They made the blues of his eyes shine like the ocean on a summer day. They were just as bottomless too, holding and baring his infinite expressions for everyone to see.

Obito blinked.

What the hell am I thinking! Oh my god maybe the kiss was contagious? Am I gay? He glanced at Rin and his heart beat its usual fluttering dance. Obito breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you stupid or just dumb?"

The ingratiating voice was the last thing he wanted to hear during his mini-crisis. He whipped around and glared Kakashi down.

"What do you want?" he spit out. Kakashi raised a single eyebrow, his head still resting on the bole of the tree and using his arms as a cushion.

"Are you finished questioning yourself?"

Obito sputtered, glancing around to see if anyone else had heard him and luckily finding everyone else getting ready to sleep.

"You're too easy, Uchiha." Kakashi taunted and Obito turned bright red.

"Keep it down you asshole! If you noticed me noticing it, doesn't that mean your in the same boat too?"

For once Kakashi didn't say anything. Obito didn't stop the triumphant grin that threatened to split his face in half.

"If this is the first time you're having to reassure yourself I hardly doubt you'll be able to make it passed chuunin."

He could feel his blood vessels popping every second. Casting a furtive glance over at the spot his sensei had been occupying and, upon seeing it empty, scooted closer toward Kakashi as to not alarm the others.

"What does that even mean?" he whispered angrily.

Kakashi cast him a look of disdain and it made his blood boil. "You'll understand eventually I guess." he turned over on his side, effectively cutting the conversation short. Obito growled in annoyance and got up to get as far away as he could from his bastard of a teammate.

What the hell does he even know about anything, he pondered angrily and was left mulling it over until he fell asleep.

…

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Beta'd by: DireDiamonds