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...]

Comments

[bunsofsteel]

About to lean in to kiss Itachi, she jumps at the new voice, pivoting as a hand drops to her thigh for a kunai before realizing who it is. "Sasuke..."

Something like that is exactly what she needed to hear, and a slight flush starts to rise to her cheeks as she lets the kunai slip away again, approaching the younger Uchiha to run her fingers along his cheek and press a soft kiss to the other one. "How long were you watching?"

[youngesthokage]

Earlier she wouldn't let go of him, and now he couldn't get her to keep her grip for more than two seconds. Huffing softly, he turned to pad over to Sasuke himself, studying him carefully as he waited for the answer too.

[thepuppetuchiha]

"... Since Niisan started using Genjutsu," Sasuke answered almost hesitantly, raising a hand to rest over hers before he leaned in to kiss at her cheek as well. It didn't take long for him to give the same affection to Itachi either, though there was something considerably more forceful and possessive in the way he was handling his elder brother.

[bunsofsteel]

"Did you see that he wouldn't make me a unicorn?" she teases Itachi again, taking the elder's elbow with her free hand to keep him in close. Then she blinks and turns with a sound of comprehension, eyes flicking between the extra weapons still left on the field, after she'd sealed hers away. "I'd thought Itachi was adding those to my own. Those were yours, then?"

[youngesthokage]

"So mean." It was a murmur, but he in no way was protesting against the way he was being touched, easily leaning into the attention as he looked from one to the other.

[thepuppetuchiha]

He paused again, stiff and more than a little self-conscious (though he tried to hide it behind a stoic expression) as he only gave Tenten a simple nod in response.

[bunsofsteel]

She gives Sasuke a small frown as she glances over them to count, then pokes the center of his chest. "You know I could have handled it myself, right?" she points out, then leans up to brush her lips against his. "Though if you were aiming to scare Uchiha-san, I don't mind at all."

[youngesthokage]

He looked from one to the other, then gave a soft huff. They could revel in their attempts to scare Obito off then, he was taking the groceries home. That in mind, he made to do just that.

[thepuppetuchiha]

"Niisan."

Without waiting he reached to grab at Itachi's sleeve. Although his expression didn't change, he felt strangely... Vulnerable.

[bunsofsteel]

"Itachi--!" It's almost at the same time as Sasuke as she reaches out to grab Itachi's other sleeve, then pauses, glancing to Sasuke with more than a little surprise.

[youngesthokage]

He stopped walking, but didn't look at either of them, upset not even so much by their actions but how... -self congratulatory- they were being. "Whenever you two are done, I'll be at home."

[thepuppetuchiha]

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to say anything, staring at him evenly. Without warning, he turned away and, with that being the last image of him for the moment, he vanished without a trace.

He probably wouldn't be home until much later that night, either.

[bunsofsteel]

"Sasuke..." She lets go of Itachi's sleeve, taking a step in that direction before stopping, knowing she's not going to be able to catch up with him, then just shakes her head, starting toward the house with the intent of getting her primary weapons scroll to train.

[youngesthokage]

He clenched his fists, looking first after Sasuke, then after her. He was -not- going be the one pinned with the blame for this. He had done -nothing- wrong. Ducking his head, he headed for the house, intending to drop off the groceries before sitting himself up on one of the more comfortable niches of the cliff face and damn both of them for thinking he was -helpless- about making himself clear, to say nothing of the fact that apparently, neither one of them trusted him to have -any- ability to say the word no.

[openedthebasket]

Lee had said it -- go to that house to ask for a sparring partner, nothing more. Not apologize, not accept this situation she had found herself in, but just... get their team back together. Maybe it was just because of everything that had happened with Naruto, but he almost felt he could understand her motivations, if not agree with them.

Hopefully he could avoid both Uchiha and simply find his teammate. He... missed her, after his own fashion. It seemed fate didn't favor him that day, because he found himself face-to-face with Uchiha Itachi. Freezing in place, a dark scowl finds his lips for a moment before he inhales once, forcing his expression to return to something impassive as he lowers his head in a barely-low-enough-to-be-respectful bow.

[youngesthokage]

He wasn't dealing with this. He didn't so much as jerk his head in reply as he came up short, instead taking a deep, uneven breath. His tone was steadier, but sharp with the current roil of emotions he was dealing with. Hurt and anger were -not- a mix he handled well without warning. "Understand me Hyuuga, if you are here to hurt her, I'll just beat you into the ground now because I am -not- in the mood to deal with anyone else deciding -anything- else for someone, you understand me?"

[openedthebasket]

Neji pauses at the tone of voice, eyes flicking over the other's body language, the lower part of his face; everywhere but his eyes. Though he reflexively bristles at the tone and the accusation, he manages to bite it back, both palms flexed open at his sides.

"Hurting her was never my intent," he manages finally, the corners of his eyes narrowed as he finishes his reading of the other. "It seems that she is the one who has hurt you."

[youngesthokage]

"Apparently I'm not allowed to be happy to see someone not be dead." It was a low rough murmur before he swept around the Hyuuga, head down as he resumed his steps. "If I come home to find her in any sort of bad repair, I'm coming after you."

[openedthebasket]

"And if she is so due to your actions, and not my own, Uchiha-san?" Neji doesn't move forward yet, watching the other walk.

[youngesthokage]

"I did -nothing- wrong." He looked over his shoulder and clenched his fists for a moment. "You're welcome to ask her."

He almost winced at how raw his voice sounded, and he promptly set off, refusing to say anything else to the Hyuuga. He wasn't in any state to deal with it, and he knew he had to go after Sasuke as well, just... he had to calm down some first.