one_long_mission | how did this even happen...

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."

"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?"

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."

"Well, I was talking about you, so I suspect he wanted to meet you already." It was a murmur, and he looked to Obito for confirmation. "After all, I did describe you with what I hope was high accuracy."

He quirked his lips and shook his head, fingers drifting to her wrist to pet there instead. "So that wasn't interrupting so much as shifting the topic back. If you're going to thank everyone who stopped me from getting kidnapped you'll need to thank my sensei as well."

He gave Obito a wry smile before clearing his throat. "My team got insanely protective after the attempt when I was eight. We all rather were separate entities up until not long before that, so I think we were still sorting out our system and the rotating third genin didn't tend to help."

"It was very accurate, though it didn't do you complete justice, Tenten-san. I would have looked forward to meeting you even more if it had."

His expression twitched toward a frown just slightly, hearing about the second kidnapping attempt. Though he relaxed again hearing that at least it wasn't successful. "Always work together. Have each other's backs," he tsked, a flash there of the older cousin speaking to the child-Itachi, not the grown Itachi before him. The shrugged, and smiled.

"He was such a sweet boy," he said, turning his attention to Tenten. "Gentle. Smart, too. Good at every game we played."

If she didn't know better, she'd think the older Uchiha was flirting with her. After all, it's not all that often she got compliments like that, even from Itachi and Sasuke. They tended to speak those kinds of things with actions more than words, but she had to admit, he was kind of charming. "I'm sure Itachi's exaggerated some, but thanks," she says after a moment, another pleased grin crossing her face.

Her own expression mirrors Obito's for a moment as she hears about his kidnapping attempts, but rather than show the same kind of unhappiness, she smirks and pulls her hand free from his to elbow his arm. "Good job getting yourself almost kidnapped twice there, Uchiha Itachi," she teases, then returns her attention to Obito with a nod. "Yeah... that hasn't changed about him, I can assure you of that."

He flushed under both their reactions, just a hint of color across the cheeks. "We learned the teamwork lesson rather harshly a bare two months before that Obito-nii, that's -why- we had a revolving teammate." It was a murmur that wasn't a true attempt to return to the former topic.

"I was small for my age as a child, it's not my fault if that made me particularly grabable. That -did- stop happening." He paused to make sure. "Yes, only the twice. After that it was me keeping Naruto from being Kidnapped, then straight to clan politics and hokage." He nodded once crisply. "If someone kidnapped me -now-..."

He trailed off, looking around where they were. "...I'm suddenly not certain if the recent months away from home count as a kidnapping."

Oh, and he was flirting, a bit. How could he resist? But he followed Itachi's gaze after the comment about kidnapping. Looking around at where they were, this strange world full of people from all sorts of times and places.

"I'd count it as kidnapping," he mused. "We've all been kidnapped on a cosmic scale, by who knows what, taken to who knows where. But I guess it's not so bad, as far as that kind of thing goes. At least the food is good. And I found an adorable little shop that sold hats, the other day. Which makes this place about ten-bazillion times more interesting than the last place I was kidnapped to."

Almost as apology for the elbow, she brings her hand up to just gently brush through his hair at the murmur before returning her hand to the table.

"Kidnapping... that's a word for it, I guess. It just doesn't make much sense that so many different people would be kidnapped and taken to a place like this. I keep expecting some kind of battle, but there never is one." She briefly closes her eyes and sighs, then opens them to stare at the older Uchiha with more than a little amusement. "So you like hats, Uchiha-san? Where else have you been, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Hats, goggles, anything else one can put on ones head without getting yelled at about it." He flashed Obito a little smile as he said this, though was curious as well and thus asked no questions himself, his fingers coming to rest on top of Tenten's.

He snorted, amused. "Actually, I'm more of a masks guy, these days. For obvious reasons. But I haven't found a shop for those, yet." He paused, looking from their faces to their hands resting together and back again. "I haven't really been anywhere interesting. Just a cave, for a long time. And after that I kicked around the different countries. Doing, you know, this and that." It had mostly been mercenary work. What else were shinobi really good for, out away from their villages? "I visited the eastern continent," he said. "Beyond Iwa. But it's very... empty. In my world, at least."

"Mm." She nods once, eyes moving to his scars again before catching herself and looking back. "Well, I mean you could just get some cloth and fold it for a mask if you really wanted. That'd be kind of a shame though, I think. But... how did you end up in a cave?"

She turns her hand to let her fingers curl around Itachi's for a moment, stroking his skin before she just lets it turn back to the table.

He flexed his fingers to skim his nails very lightly over the back of her hand as he hummed. "There was a mask vendor at the festival that just ended. They might have a shop somewhere in town if you'd truly like one. I don't think you need one though."

"Ah, I'll make some out of wood, by and by." He shrugged. "They're useful sometimes, you know? People don't notice a guy in a mask the way they notice a guy with his face this messed up."

He thought over the question about the cave for a moment. "I was dragged there. Someone... an old man scraped what was left of me up after I'd been hurt and took it home with him. To a kind of..." He made a vague circling gesture with both his hands. "...underground place, where he lived."

Edited 2012-12-01 07:37 (UTC)

Her fingers twitch from the attention, relaxing under Itachi's touch as she watches Obito's face, just listening for now. "If you don't want to talk about something like that, it's fine," she's quick to add, tilting her head to measure his expression. "I don't mind."

He stilled for a moment, then leaned to touch Obito's hand with his other other. "Is... that why...?" He didn't want to fully articulate the question, watching his face intently.

He meets Itachi's gaze with a brief, tense glance that says yes, that's why. But only smiles, and shrugs after that. "I don't mind talking about it. The old guy patched me up, anyway. So I'm grateful. Anyway it was more boring than anything else. I mean, I know trapped-in-a-cave sounds boring, but."

He made a sort of sweeping gesture with one hand. "Anyway. Itachi tells me you, he and Sasuke spent some time in a not-so-boring place, before coming here."

She glances between both of them; it's clear enough that she's missing something here, and with anyone else, she might have pressed further. With this? Another glance between the two, and she lets it go. She can ask Itachi later, or perhaps Obito himself.

...Then again, the change of subject wasn't exactly her favorite topic, either. Coughing into one hand, she glances away, a flush starting to suffuse her cheeks. "Yeah, that's one way to put it." A quick glance to Itachi revealed that he'd be telling her exactly just what about her and his and Sasuke's relationship he'd already said. Her expression brightens as she adds, "But, you know, they had this amazing weapons room. It didn't matter how many I took out of there, as long as I went away and came back, it was totally full again! I still have almost all of the ones I'd managed to seal away, even here."

"I have no idea where you intend to put them all either." He looked sideways at her and shook his head. "I really had no idea you'd collect the entirety of the room when I showed it to you. Your devotion to weaponry is truly awing." There wasn't even a hint of mockery in his words either, every bit of it genuine.

He looked back to Obito, humming. "She would probably be happy if she could get every rare weapon into her hands, honestly."

He grinned, pleased. "Have a favorite?" he asked.

"I'll find a place," she promises, smile never leaving her face as she gives him another glance, her other hand coming to lightly rest atop his for a moment before drawing back as if miffed. "Well I didn't take all of them, you know. Some of them were pretty low-quality. I only took the good stuff! They were looking at me practically begging for me to take them home with me, so I couldn't just leave them there..."

The thought that it might be slightly absurd does occur to her, but she ignores it. "As for a favorite...?" Her brow furrows as she thinks, letting out a small hum of contemplation. "No single one. I do prefer ranged weapons, though."

"Really?" He looked sideways at her. "I suppose that makes sense. I favor my sword if I had to pick any one weapon." He paused a beat. "Thankfully it's not something I can lose in transition like everything else. You Obito-nii?"

He listened with a crooked smile as they talked about the arsenal.

"A fan," he said, after a moment. "Or a kama, maybe. Though I rely more on jutsu."

She looks between both of them, measuring their answers. "I don't really like kama on their own, but kusurigama? Those are fun." The smile on her face and the tone of her voice suggests that they're talking about shopping for clothes or something far less brutal, but it's true -- weapons are fun!

Though she gives Itachi a curious, measuring glance. "You always borrow one of my swords, though. What one're you talking about?"

"The Sakegari Longsword." He hummed, asking for another cup when the tea arrived a moment later, and he leaned to pour himself one. "I'd never considered using a fan."

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