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]

"Just... a thought I don't like the feel of, that's all." It was a murmur and he shook his head. "You said that there were other yours who took a bloodier path..." He hesitated for a moment more. "Are they going by Madara?"

[mooneye]

The name made him tense up. A lot. After a moment it passed--he sat back, relaxed again, though the look he cast sideways was a bit dark. "I believe so," he said. "Or... another name, maybe. But yeah. Mostly that one."

[youngesthokage]

"Oh." He stared down at the table for a long moment at that and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Okay. That... I get it now." He straightened and looked back to him, meeting his eye again with ease. "I think I was happier before I realized that, but it doesn't matter, it's not you."

[mooneye]

Obito's gaze snapped up and he gave him an intent, somber look. "So you've met one then," he mused. "What happened?"

[youngesthokage]

"Only seen briefly, but I expect I haven't heard the last from him. Just before the... initial execution orders I got a letter saying that if I needed help with anything, he'd be more than happy to deal with it." He shuddered a little and shook his head sharply. "Considering this was the same evening Shisui died, I wasn't exactly doubtful of the meaning. The situation was... much. I managed to break out of it by going to the Hokage but..." He shook his head. "I know of the other possibility in -great detail-."

[mooneye]

Obito watched him closely while he listened. At the end he leaned forward over the table, lacing his fingers and resting his chin on them. Easy, but for the first time since they had sat down together--with a sort of edge to him. Something that was not evil exactly, but strange, dangerous and deep. The tomoe seal in the one eye twitched, just a little. "He wants to destroy everything. And not just destroy, but make it like it never was. Don't trust him."

[youngesthokage]

"I never did." His voice was a murmur, and he shook his head. "I never had any urge to." He took a breath, holding his gaze. "I'm glad I didn't know."

[mooneye]

"Me too." Obito sat back again, taking a breath and sighing. He shook his head, just one quick jerk sideways like he was trying to banish a bad thought.

[youngesthokage]

Deciding he didn't like that look on Obito's face, he reached across the table, leaning on it with his other hand as he touched his cheek, smoothing away the fierce lines.

[mooneye]

For just a moment he still seemed distant. Like he was seeing something else, listening to something else. But the touch drew him back, and when he looked up it was a bit like he was coming awake. An instant of disorientation, and then a smile. Ah, yes. This was where he was, and who he was.

"The scars don't bother you?" he asked, curious.

[youngesthokage]

He blinked at the question, honestly bewildered. "Should they? I'm not happy you have them, but they're nothing to be ashamed of."

[mooneye]

"I'm not ashamed. It's just, they bother some people, is all." He reached up and put his hand over Itachi's, just briefly.

[bunsofsteel]

It was a normal day, as far as Tenten was concerned. In one hand she had a bag of groceries from the local market, the other free, just in case. It wasn't as though the bag itself couldn't be used as a weapon, but that would break the eggs, and breaking the groceries with someone else's face wasn't on her list of things to do today.

Speaking of faces... Her head tilts with curiosity at the sight of Itachi touching someone's face. No one she knew, but that was certainly her Itachi, if his clothing was anything to judge by. He wasn't tense, and certainly didn't appear to be under duress or genjutsu. Without hesitation, she makes her way over, stopping before their table and letting her free hand rest easily on her hip. Lips quirking into a smile, she only gives the other a cursory glance, then asks, "Am I interrupting anything, Itachi-sama?" If the other was a threat, she's certain he'd find a way to communicate it to her.

[youngesthokage]

He started, just a little. Yes he'd been aware of her presence, but the question itself wasn't what he was expecting when he registered she was there. There was no guilty jerking of his fingers, which stayed where they were on the other man's cheek. Instead, he just lifted his gaze to her and smiled, a certain degree of undeniable contentment there. "Tenten, this is Obito. Obito-nii, this is Tenten."

[mooneye]

Obito turned his attention over to the girl, focusing on her with a sudden fierce, playful interest. Not threatening, but eager, catlike and fascinated. "You're Tenten?" he asked. And oh, she really did seem like everything Itachi had said she was, just by the look of her. "This is wonderful. I'm glad to meet you. Do you want to sit down with us?"

[bunsofsteel]

A little taken aback by the other's interest and friendly greeting, she casts Itachi another glance before lightly brushing her free hand over his shoulders and the back of his neck as she slides into the chair beside her lover. Itachi clearly trusted this man, and the addition of nii to his name? As they weren't brothers by blood, unless Sasuke had never mentioned the other, that meant he was a friend.

Her eyes finally leave Itachi's to measure the other carefully, his build and potential weak points should it come to battle. Obviously trained as a shinobi, and if the physical resemblance was anything to judge by? An Uchiha. Her eyes linger over the scars for a moment, though as soon as she realizes that she's staring, she forces her eyes to meet his. If Itachi trusted him, then she would.

"You know more about me than I do about you, Uchiha-san," she offers as greeting, eyes staying on his to see how he'd react. "That doesn't seem all that fair~"

[youngesthokage]

"Obito-nii was my favorite cousin as a child." He finally pulled his hand back so he was actually sitting properly in his chair again. "But he died. So I've been telling him about me and I mentioned you and Sasuke as well."

[mooneye]

He watched her looking him over, noting where her gaze lingered briefly. There on the missing eye, he thought. He was blind on one side in a battle. Even if he could feel someone's chakra, he wouldn't be able to sense or see--say, a kunai flying at him. Beautiful. They had not been acquainted for even a minute yet and she was absolutely taking a moment to figure out how to kill him. He was smiling. Nothing but pleased by it.

"Itachi, I can't believe you've never mentioned me to this lovely girl before." He sat back, watching the two of them and smiling.

[bunsofsteel]

"We haven't spoken that much about our respective homes," she answers easily, her eyes threatening to drift over to his scars again, wondering what could have ever caused such a wound. And his eye... or lack thereof. A moment, and she glances to Itachi again, cheeks starting to go just the slightest shade of pink. Mentioned her and Sasuke? In what context? "But it's a pleasure to meet you nonetheless, Uchiha-san." She inclines her head, using the gesture to check for any areas on his clothing where he might be hiding weapons almost as reflex. She wasn't afraid of this cousin of Itachi's, it's just -- old habits died hard.

[youngesthokage]

Itachi noticed both of their reactions, her reflexive wariness, and his pleasure at her viewing him as a possible threat, and he was absolutely thrilled at how well they were getting along already. His only worry now was that Sasuke and Obito would not get along at all.

That would be saddening.

He brushed the thought off for now though, noting the chide. From both of them. "We've been sorting through more current affairs, primarily Obito-nii." His lips quirked. "He's the one that taught me how to throw Kunai."

[mooneye]

And there were several concealed weapons under his clothes. Even now, with the mokuton at his disposal, it didn't feel right not to have a few little blades here and there. They came in handy. If not for sticking into people, then just for prying things open or peeling skins from fruit.

"Throw them very well," he elaborated. And then he looked intent. "You don't talk about the places you come from? Why not? I'd love to hear about your world." He watched Tenten curiously. "I think each of us here is from somewhere different."

[bunsofsteel]

"Really?" Her interest obviously perking at the mention of throwing kunai, the weapons mistress leans back more comfortably in her chair as she keeps her eyes on his. "I'd be interested in seeing your technique in such a case, Uchiha-san. And as for your question..." She trails off, cheeks threatening to flush again, considering that she doesn't want to tell him that most of their conversations quickly dissolve into something more physical. "It's hard to know where to begin with such things, you know?"

Finally letting the bag of groceries slip to the ground now that she's confident she won't need to throw them in his face as a distraction, she rests her chin on her palm and her elbow on the table. "I would like to hear more about you."

[youngesthokage]

Itachi pondered, reaching to pet Tenten's arm a little as he canted his head to the side. "Well... when Obito-nii rescues people he's remembered forever. He prevented my being kidnapped when I was four."

After a moment he looked at her directly, not having seen what she intended to dress in previously so it was mainly check for how much the cloth covered of her arms. "Though I haven't asked if that holds true in his as well. I know not all the Itachi I've met hold my same childhood."

[mooneye]

"It's true in mine." He nodded. It was interesting to watch them. All those little touches, the casual intimacy. He liked it. He always liked to see lovers together, and seeing Itachi with a lover was particularly entertaining. "I think all the early events match, probably. Up to the end. And, hey, ask me anything." He turned to look at Tenten. "What do you want to know?"

[bunsofsteel]

Her fingers curl lightly against the table at the pet as more of the earlier tension bleeds from her form. His fingers brush skin left bare from her three-quarter sleeves of her tunic, another high-collared Chinese-style shirt clasped over the chest. "Did he?" Her respect for this Obito goes up another notch, and she gives him another glance, softened by a smile. "I guess I have to say I'm grateful for that, huh?"

Her fingertips touch her lips as she thinks, then shrugs. "I guess I'd just like to know about you and Itachi. Anything you'd like to talk about." Her lips quirk up. "I didn't mean to interrupt earlier, really."