how did this even happen...

[mooneye]

It wasn't a bad sort of place. Lots of things to do and people to see. Plenty of freedom to dart over the rooftops and down the alleys--or out of the village and into the woods and rocky wild places beyond. Obito liked Michi no Sato.

He had stopped for lunch and was eating at a table outside the restaurant, watching people walk past. The food was good. The cold breeze was nice. Ah, yes. Years and years trapped in a cave with a crazy old man and a bunch of plant monsters--it had left him really able to appreciate the little things.

[ooc: here is an AU Obito in his twenties. Got through the time with Madara, and Rin's death, but didn't go completely evil after all of it...]

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[youngesthokage]

He nodded once, sharply. "You're Obito-nii-sama." His tone was a little wry. "At least I've remembered you that way."

[mooneye]

"Hey, keep thinking of me that way. And I'll keep thinking of you as my adorable little baby brother-cousin." He shrugged. "Though I guess we've got some catching up to do."

[youngesthokage]

"Yes, well, I have a little brother too. At home he's twelve, but the one I'm living with is sixteen to my seventeen." He paused a beat. "He's what got me talking again after you died."

Considering how much of a chatter bug he'd been as a very small child, this was saying a lot.

[mooneye]

"I've met Sasuke in my own timeline." He nodded. "He's a sweet kid. Not the brightest. But sweet." A slow smile. "He means a lot to you? Here, and where you're from?"

[youngesthokage]

"He's my little medic-to-be back home, but here... he's strong. Physically stronger than I am, though I'm still more skilled, of course. Though he could probably outlast me in sheer stamina given the chance." He shook his head.

"Not that I've ever had a lot of -that- compared to most of the clan."

[mooneye]

"A medic." That impressed him. "As for stamina, well. It's not everything. Better to be clever, in most cases."

[youngesthokage]

"He's... he can be. Given motivation he can be incredibly intelligent. He's just... stubborn. So very intensely -stubborn-." He snorted softly. "It took me -months- to convince him I was from an alternate timeline at all."

[mooneye]

Obito thought of Fugaku--another stubborn man. But he didn't say anything about it. "It's hard to believe, at first. This whole place, I mean."

[youngesthokage]

"It's much.. gentler than the last place." He paused, eyes unfocusing a little before he shuddered and shook it off. "Still not home, but so much -better-."

[mooneye]

A look of concern. "Where were you before this?"

[youngesthokage]

He fully broke eyed contact then, looking down at the table as he drew his hands back to put them in his lap. "It... was an odd place. Very firm about the rules that it had, more or less. But it- I. The first person I met there told me it was called the love hotel, though the name is... not what I would call accurate."

[mooneye]

Obito watched him closely, catching the little snags and pauses in his speech and wondering what they meant, exactly. Didn't seem like anything good. "Love hotel," he repeated. "That sounds like the name of a bad brothel."

[youngesthokage]

"Something like that." It was a murmur, and he didn't look up, hiding behind his bangs.

[mooneye]

He became more solemn, frowning. "It's no good... being trapped in a place where you're being hurt. I'm glad you're free now."

[youngesthokage]

He shook his head sharply. "I wasn't hurt. I wasn't... I wasn't unlucky like that." He took a deep breath and let it out shakily. "It's fine."

[mooneye]

Obito offered his hand across the table again, palm up. "You're here now."

[youngesthokage]

He stared at his hand a moment, more hesitant this time before he rested his own on it. "It... wasn't even the place so much. It wasn't that bad, to me that is. But... No one trusts me. There it was... twisted, but there was little to be done. But it's... here too. That part."

[mooneye]

"Because of the more common timeline." He guessed, nodding slowly.

[youngesthokage]

"Yes." His voice was soft, and his stare at the tabletop rather intensified. "And he's not even as he's led people to believe either." He gave a short humorless laugh. "Which makes it worse really. Do you have any idea how many times I've been called a traitor? Essentially every person I've met, even Tenten. Or that I'm dangerous, or that I'd hurt someone just because. I've been accused of all of that. Do you have any idea what it's like to get looked at with -fear- from someone you love? Sasuke did that to me. He was convinced I was going to kill him."

[mooneye]

"Have you met any of my alternate selves?" He waited for the response, then shook his head grimly. "I don't think there are any here, which is for the best. If one does show up, I'm going to try and kill it." He paused, thinking. "It's interesting. What difference a single decision can make. Whole histories get altered and... I don't know. I suppose all we can do is stay true to our lives. We aren't them. Those other men. Not really."

[youngesthokage]

Well, if -anything- was attention getting, it was that, and he jerked his gaze to him. "...Your alternate selves?"

[mooneye]

"I haven't actually met any." He shrugged. "Just heard about him. He chose a more violent path than I did. And my path has had it's own sort of violence, don't get me wrong."

[youngesthokage]

He frowned a little. "What did you hear?"

[mooneye]

"Nothing very flattering... though, I don't know. I think I understand him. And what he's doing. That's the part that I hate."

[youngesthokage]

"But the reaction of 'kill it' is... extreme, isn't it?" It was a murmur, and he shook his head. "I understand my alternate selves well and can easily see things going their way."