one_long_mission | how did this even happen...

He gave him a sad smile then. "I'm not really his Itachi just like he's not really my Sasuke. I still love him, so much, but there are moments when the rift is there and it hurts." He looked down. "It's gotten better but it's... not the kind of relationship most people would approve, now."

He just watched him, for a moment. "Why not?" he asked. "You sound like you're both get along well enough, considering."

He cleared his throat and straightened further in his chair, tense. "I believe the term would be too well in this case."

It took him a moment, but he got it, and leaned back in his chair a bit, surprised. "Oh."

The reaction didn't let him relax in the least, and he watched him through the fringe of his bangs, utterly rigid in his chair. There were many people for whom he would not care about their reaction.

He was not speaking to one such person.

Obito just thought about it, for a bit. It was unexpected. And it changed the way he had been imagining the two of them--not as individuals, but as a pair. Or, no. With the girl, too. All three. Kinky.

Once the initial surprise wore off, Obito gave a bark of a laugh, shrugging and shaking his head. He liked the idea, really. Found it amusing, appealing. Twists like that, the tangles between people, they interested him. "All right. Now you have to tell me how that happened."

There was no maliciousness in the reaction and he slowly relaxed, a tiny, cautious smile touching his lips. "We were all together in the place before here. If anything Sasuke was even more fortunate than I was, the only person he kept running into was -me-... but not as himself exactly." He paused, thinking about it. "The place made very convincing illusions. You wouldn't remember your real life while you were in them. I got to see sides of Sasuke I... had not truly realized were there, this Sasuke that is."

He sucked in a breath as he realized something, eyes widening as his thoughts seemed to derail. "But it never changed who a person was. She was-the. No. I clearly need to find a medic and sit on them while they formulate the results because something was -wrong- with my medical staff if her worries... and that particular -theme-... that's not good."

His attention became sharper at the description of the place. Madara--his Madara, at least--had been capable of illusions like that, intricate dreamworlds full of forgetfulness, where sometimes many years would pass while just a few hours went by in the real world.

And he listened to the next part, curious. "Realize something?" he asked.

"I... It was... a very prevalent theme that I was terminally ill." It was a murmur and he touched his chest. "More than once, and one of those closest to home... I..." He gave his head a little shake. "Tenten met an older me who was -very- ill here. But... I didn't really give it a thought until I remembered that for all its tricks... there was always a bit of truth in everything the hotel did."

Obito listened intently, putting the bits and pieces together. "That's very worrisome," he said, quietly. "You think...?"

"But... possible. I was always easy to tire, when I was very small, do you remember that?" He fidgeted a little. "I've, other mes. For some reason I refused to think about it." He closed his eyes and still, thinking. "In one of the timelines... I was sick too, but they were different sick. I... it was something that my medics for some reason never noticed until Tsunade decided to check me personally. That has not -actually- happened to me, simply in one of the illusory places but... there was always an accommodation for two people in the illusions, so why make what's wrong disparate?"

"I remember you being frail, back them. Just sometimes, you know... As for the rest, what you're describing sounds like a world of dreams," he remarked, dropping his gaze down to the table briefly before looking back up at Itachi. "Dreams have truths in them, in a way the waking world doesn't." He frowned, it was clear that he didn't like the suggestion. But Obito was fearless, even in quiet matters like this one. "You shouldn't ignore this."

"I won't. I already promised Tenten that once she found a medic she approved of I would consent to being checked over thoroughly." He paused a beat. "At the time my biggest worry was that her concern would lead to her withholding sex but now I'm actually concerned."

The corner of his mouth quirked a bit, though the rest of his expression remained serious. "It could be nothing. But... if there is something the matter, and you could catch it early."

"If it's something where catching it can even do anything that is?" It was a murmur and he quirked his lips. "Before my little revelation we were on a tangent about Sasuke. I believe I was almost to where I and an Itachi from his timeline ganged up on him, with me holding him down and the other one being an idiot, to explain, he knocked himself trying Tsukiyomi when he was already on the verge of collapse, and I ended up having to carefully explain everything."

There was a pause. "Then I ended up punching Sasuke in the face after the other Itachi woke because he said some things that pretty much were angled to try to break the other me." Considering how hard it was to incite him to physical violence typically... "He never apologized for them, but I know he wouldn't say things like that now."

He slowly began to smile, though there remained just a trace of concern over the topic of the previous discussion. "Sounds romantic. And things have only gotten better, after the fairy tale start?"

"Well after that is when I met Tenten. I'm pretty sure she stuck around at first because I made her feel sorry for me." He grimaced. "Excellent track record I have, don't you think? The cherry on this was just before coming here we all got locked in a room together and I had the dubious joy of waking up just before those two tried to snipe each other into submission. They're from the same timeline, have I mentioned? He's a missing-nin."

"I like it. It's messy," he said, laughing. "Do the two of them get along?"

"Now they do. She has this habit of staring an Uchiha in the eyes even when we have a sharingan going. Well, me and Sasuke at least." He quirked his lips. "It's not as though she's unaware of the significance of such a gesture. I get the sense that not many people are willing to do that for Sasuke where he's from anymore."

"Brave girl. That's a lot of trust to give an Uchiha." He shook his head. "You get used to it, I guess. People not wanting to make eye contact with you for very long."

"I know. Sasuke is captivated by it though." He paused a beat. "And the weapons, of course. I've never seen Sasuke make such a disappointed face as he does when he finds Tenten unarmed." He flashed him an amused look. "I've long gotten used to people dodging my gaze in the last several months, sadly."

"It sounds like a good match. The three of you, I mean." He hummed, agreeing with the last part. "I usually don't notice," he said. "They do the same with me. Well, I guess it might be my whole face they're trying not to look at, not just the eye. But I don't pay much attention."

He studied his face contemplatively. "The long hair softens the effect of the scars."

He smiled, taking a raggedy length of it and winding his fingers around it, then running them down the the end of the dark lock. "It's irritating. This much hair. But I wear it this way because the man who took me in after the accident had his like this. Long, long."

He pointedly hair free of the tail and shook it forward. "Father always told me that I could only grow mine out if I was good enough keep him from being able to touch it. I started really growing it out just after I got into ANBU at ten. But... I can't say I considered letting it get as long as yours. If it bothers you, why not braid it back?"

He peered at him a moment before setting about pulling the strands back again.

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