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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[facevalue]

"Ah." He nods once, taking the other's words as true for lack of a better option. After all, there was little cause for the other to lie to him, unless the attempt of using the same village was to lull him into trusting complacency -- unlikely, and also impossible. "It would seem that none of us are at the moment. Unless you left before? In which case, I would hope that we are not what are called enemies."

[mooneye]

"Before," he clarified. And watched, to see if that would trigger any kind of a hostile response. "Konoha and I have had our differences, but no. I'm not enemy of the village. Some of my favorite restaurants are there."

He paused, studying the boy. "Are you from one of the clans?"

[facevalue]

"Ah, is that so?" If he were not declaring himself an enemy of Konoha, that meant Sai has no more answers than he had before he'd asked. However, there was no reason to invite hostility in a place that appeared to have no effect on the village at all. His smile doesn't waver as he answers, "No, I have no affiliation with any clan that I am aware of. I am not possessed of that thing commonly called 'family,' after all, though I take from your question that you are?"

[mooneye]

Obito listened. There was something odd about the way the young man spoke, he thought. Relaxed, but not quite natural. "I am Uchiha," he replied, shrugging. "I have aunts and uncles, and that sort of thing."

[facevalue]

"Uchiha?" His brows knit together in polite confusion. There were only supposed to be two Uchiha still alive... and this man looked nothing like either Uchiha Sasuke or Uchiha Itachi. "How interesting that you are not dead like the majority of that clan."

[mooneye]

"Ah, that..." He paused. The last time he had mentioned being from such a very different timeline it had gone rather badly. But. This boy was associated with the village but not the clan, so perhaps it wouldn't matter much to him. "I'm from a place where the lot of us are considerably more alive and plentiful than we seem to usually be."

[facevalue]

He doesn't blink. In fact, the only change in his expression is a slight widening of his smile, brows remaining in the same position as before. 'Timelines' again, was it? Another puzzle. "Is that so? How fortunate for you that you come from such a place. Tell me, do you have your own name, Uchiha-san?"

[mooneye]

"It is lucky, I suppose." He laughed. "And I am Obito. You are...?"

[facevalue]

Obito. The name was familiar, but didn't register as something that he should be aware of. Perhaps he read it in a book somewhere? After all, all those self-help books tried to do their best to be engaging by giving themselves characters with names. His smile only crinkles the corners of his eyes in his best attempt at sincerity. "I am presently called Sai."

[mooneye]

"Presently called Sai," he repeated. The name didn't mean anything to him, though he liked it well enough. Short, smooth. "You are very pleasant, Sai." A little too pleasant, though that still... wasn't reading as a threat, exactly. "What is your place in the village?"

[facevalue]

"Yes." If anything stuck him as odd about his wording, Sai didn't show it. After all, it was just a name, hardly anything of any importance. A matter of convenience, nothing more.

Though at receiving a compliment, his brows furrow in that slight hint of puzzlement again. As far as he knew, he had done nothing to garner such praise, but he accepts it anyway. "Thank you very much. I am no one." Literally no one. Ah, but that's right, as a show of trust, one was to discuss hobbies and likes? Carefully, so the other would see he presents no threat, the clone reaches behind to draw his sketchbook from his backpack. "I am an artist. What are you?"

[mooneye]

He perked up, at that. "Artist?" It had never been one of his particular interests, but he was acquainted with both Deidara and Sasori, and their art was fun and dangerous, and interesting. "Drawing? What do you draw?"

And, gaze shifting sideways for a moment as he considered the other question. "I do different sorts of jobs." Since it was already established that he was a missing-nin, he didn't feel that he had to elaborate on the specific nature of his work.

[facevalue]

"Landscapes and animals." It's a simple answer with many meanings behind it. After all, a photograph took more time than his charcoal, and with his trained eyes, it was easy to highlight details that might be missed. A picture was more useful than a written report, in that respect. Landscapes were beautiful, in their own way. Animals too, possessed of a sleek, strong beauty that he couldn't help but attempt to emulate himself.

Abstracts, though, he doesn't mention. Impractical for anything but his own peace of mind, they didn't bear mentioning. "Would you like to see some of them?"

[mooneye]

"Yes." The eagerness was clear. "Do they do anything... you know, shinobi-ish?"

[facevalue]

Now that would be telling. Fortunately, Sai wasn't possessed of very much of that thing called 'pride,' so his smile doesn't waver as he easily lies, "Ah, no, unfortunately not."

The clone only tilts its head. "If you like, I can draw you."

[mooneye]

Deidara would have gone on at length if he had been asked that question. Still, this boy was very unlike Deidara. So Obito didn't rule out the possibility that the drawings might indeed have some qualities that were not simply artistic.

The last statement surprised him, and he quirked a sideways sort of smile. "Me?" he asked. "Sure... I'm not much to look at, though."

[facevalue]

The clone merely moves to the side of the road to remove himself from the path of other passerby. Excellent. He would sketch this man, and learn of his power from his sketches. Or perhaps gain a new kind of bond.

With an easy grace, he lowers himself to sit cross-legged on the ground, hardly as helpless as the position would seem to convey; after all, his real body was still hidden securely underground. A moment, as he contemplates what medium to use, before drawing a small stick of charcoal from his belt, settling his sketchpad on his knees and studying the other man. For the first time since his approach, Sai's unnatural smile disappears as if it hadn't been there, eyes roving up and down the other's body to catch the smallest details. "You are catlike," he answers, finally putting charcoal to paper. "Those ugly lines on your face have an artistic value of their own."

[mooneye]

That made him laugh. A raspy, genuinely amused sort of a sound. And he stood at ease, since he hadn't been instructed to sit or to move in any way. He watched the young man and was somewhat relieved to see the smile vanish. He wasn't really used to anyone treating him so pleasantly. Not that he had minded, but. It had been a little... unsettling.

"Thank you. I've gotten to rather like them, myself."

[facevalue]

When he sketches, he emphasizes those lines and the missing eye. A desire to touch that half of his face, the half that almost looked as though it had morphed itself onto his skin, seemed like armor. That would be the side he would avoid, were they to come to blows. Though the blind spot would be his first place to strike. That entire half of the other's face, he leaves blank to represent that. Speed would be his ally if it came to it, to defeat whatever countermeasures he had developed to protect his obvious weakpoint.

Sai's eyes move down his body, analyzing his frame beneath his clothes as he starts the faintest of outlines, soon to be marked over by the man's choice of outfit. Every detail would be committed to paper, and he would title it Uchiha Obito.

"What are they from, the scars?"

[mooneye]

Obito watched him, noting where his attention seemed to rest. He was being analyzed. He didn't mind. If it ever came to a fight between them, so be it. Having an opponent who had picked up some of his weak points would make the whole thing more of a challenge.

"A rock. A big one. It fell and... kersplat." He made a fist and then spread his fingers in a sort of splatting gesture.

[facevalue]

It actually takes the younger shinobi a moment to process kersplat, having never used it himself. In fact, he's almost certain he's never actually heard anyone use that word, let alone to describe something like that. His sketch actually pauses for a moment as he gives that side of the other's face a longer look.

"You certainly do not appear to be... is it kersplatted?" Is that how one conjugates that verb?

[mooneye]

"Ah, that's just a matter of confidence. I'm pretty much the most kersplatted person you'll ever meet."

[facevalue]

His brows only furrow in polite confusion again, but he resumes sketching. To cover his puzzlement, he tries for a smile again. That's what people did when they pretended they understood something when they didn't, correct?

"Ah... perhaps I shall title this 'Kersplatted One,' but I do not think that's right..." Titling things is difficult. A moment as he completes his sketch, then turns the book around to show off his handiwork.

[mooneye]

"Excellent title." He laughed and waited, and when the book was turned around he stepped forward and bent to examine it. After a moment his expression became slightly thoughtful. The figure was subtly but clearly divided. Right half, left half. A supple, binary figure.

"This is very good."

[facevalue]

"Thank you." The clone's smile widens at the corners as he attempts to express... pleasure? Pride? A combination of both of those was the correct response, he was certain. "Would you like a copy?"