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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[smallstepstopower]

"Hmm, Naruto. I almost set him on fire a couple weeks ago... He burned some of my things." He paused, smile turning wry. "Itachi might have accidentally burned the entire house down after that while in my company, but the matter has been resolved and none of it was my fault."

[mooneye]

"Fire isn't anybody's fault. Fire just happens." That was true enough in the Uchiha clan, at least.

[smallstepstopower]

He laughed again and nodded. "Actually, yes, that's about what happened. Itachi-kun had a panic attack. Now he can't stop apologizing whenever I see him. It's adorable, but really not required." He tisked and shook his head.

[mooneye]

"Which Itachi?" Panic attack was worrisome. But. Obviously the problem had been solved--with fire.

He cocked his head back in the direction he had just come from. "Not that one?" He couldn't imagine the kid's two housemate's letting him have anything at all to do with this man, since they had made such a fuss about him.

[smallstepstopower]

"No. The one that's ill. He's so fragile a good push tips him clean over." He shook his head. "After coming to me I picked up a medic who has apparently decided that it's great fun solving the mystery of Itachi-kun's illness, though sadly he frowns at me so over the idea of me dropping by for a visit on Itachi-kun. So cruel."

[mooneye]

There was a flicker of--something, there in his expression. Gone again quickly. "Perhaps he will solve it," he mused. "Uchihas have been intermarrying for a long time. In my world, anyway. We're a pure breed. We have perfect strengths and perfect weaknesses."

[smallstepstopower]

He hummed softly. "I do believe my little medic might actually have the skill for it. I would be unhappy if Itachi-kun died. I did, after all, intend to help him." He quirked his lips. "But, no need to be so dour. We surely have -other- topics, don't we?"

[mooneye]

"Certainly." He smiled. "We can talk about anything you like."

[smallstepstopower]

"How one sided~ Tell me something I don't know."

[mooneye]

"Something you don't know..." Obito paused, pondering, gaze sliding sideways. "But you're famous for knowing quite a lot, where I'm from. How can I be sure I'm telling you something that you've never heard before?"

[smallstepstopower]

He laughed softly, but didn't take his eyes off him for a second. "Try."

[mooneye]

A short, amused sound. "Fine. It was a rock that fell." He pulled one fingertip down the scarred side of his face, then held his hands apart from one another, indicating size. "A really big one."

[smallstepstopower]

He blinked, looking him over from head to toe. "And just how much did this rock cover?"

[mooneye]

"All the way down." He gestured along that half of his body.

[smallstepstopower]

His eyes took another, lazier, pass. "Sounds... fascinating."

[mooneye]

"One of the most fascinating things about me." Which was true enough, in a way.

[smallstepstopower]

"But not -the- most fascinating, I don't doubt."

[mooneye]

"Not at all." A slow smile. "What about you? Tell me something about you."

[smallstepstopower]

"Me? I am the most excellent being you'll ever meet, of course."

[mooneye]

"Oh?" He laughs, looking him up and down. "Maybe you are, you know. At least one of the most excellent."

[smallstepstopower]

"Of course I am. There will come a day when all who met me will feel, if not pleased, then at the very least honored." He smirked. "So long as I don't do some of the foolish things older me did."

[mooneye]

"Foolish, hm?" That surprises him. "He did rather well for himself, in his way."

[smallstepstopower]

"Of course he did. But, he clearly got caught up in the wrong details if he's best known as a kidnapper." He shook his head with a soft tisk.

[mooneye]

Obito watched him, then gave a slow nod. "He did do that. In later years it was more... collecting, I believe. And less actual kidnapping."

[smallstepstopower]

He hummed, inclining his head. "In any case, the point is to -know- and -learn-, not to -hoard-. One can never become something greater if one is a mere collector of fascinating things."