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]

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?"

[mooneye]

"Certainly." He nodded. And then, curiously, "do you ever do self portraits?"

[facevalue]

He doesn't answer immediately, flipping further into his sketchbook to tear out a blank page, setting it on the opposite knee as his sketchbook. Bringing two fingers up to his chest, he focuses his Chakra, willing some of the charcoal dust to come to lift and drift to the second sheet of paper. Within seconds, an exact, if somewhat lighter grey, copy of the Kersplatted picture is revealed, and Sai closes the sketchbook, saving his original for himself.

His eyes crinkle in another attempted smile as he offers the sheet up to the other man. "Ah, no, I am afraid not. Not since I was a child, you see."

[mooneye]

Obito plucked the page lightly from the young man's hand and examined it more closely for a moment, before glancing back to him. "Hm? Why not?"

[facevalue]

"Hmmm..." The corners of his eyelids crinkle further. "Because I am never certain what expression I should draw on myself."

[mooneye]

Obito peered very closely at him for a few long moments. "You smile often," he mused.

[facevalue]

"You think so?" His eyebrows lift in his approximation of 'surprise.' "I have been told that I am not very good at it, but I have been practicing."

[mooneye]

"Not very good at smiling?" That left him bemused. "...It's not like it's... is it difficult, for you?"

[facevalue]

"Ah... yes." He keeps his sketchbook resting easily on his knees and his smile on his face. "I often practice, but my comrades tell me that it is useless, and a smile does not suit my face. I am not possessed of those things called 'emotions,' you see."

[mooneye]

His whole demeanor shifted, just a little. He was suddenly fascinated. Watching the boy a little more closely. No emotions? "...That must be very useful."

[facevalue]

He nods once, expression unwavering. "I think it is, though it makes it difficult to understand those things called 'bonds.'"

Had he said something wrong? Now the other is paying closer attention.

[mooneye]

He just thought about that, then nodded and looked away before he seemed to relax again. "Bonds aren't so great. Without them--you could do anything, hm? And not feel. It sounds nice."

[facevalue]

"Ah, I see." Sai nods again, smile widening in comprehension. "Unlike him, your bonds make you a weak and useless pussy."

[mooneye]

There was a little flash of surprise and temper before he broke off into a laugh. "You're very direct."

[facevalue]

"Is that a problem? I do not think I am wrong." Through it all, his expression doesn't waver, sketchpad resting lightly on his knees... though his real body beneath the earth is ready with his scroll should he need a few ink-beasts.

[mooneye]

"Not at all." He shrugged. "Though I am not always weak and useless, it has been a problem in the past. And emotion was certainly the cause." He paused, thinking. "But, we all do our best, hm?"

[facevalue]

"I have heard that stupid opinion before," Sai agrees pleasantly. "So you are one of the people who let your emotions control you?"

[mooneye]

"They get the better of me once in a while. For the most part, I do all right with them."

[facevalue]

"Ah. I do not have that problem, yet I cannot help but feel as though I am missing out on something."

[mooneye]

"You might be." He thought back on his own bonds, the good and the bad. "I don't know. I do think things would be easier without emotion, but it can be just as pleasant as it is awful, I guess."

[facevalue]

He hums thoughtfully again, clearly taking the other's words to heart. "Ah, tell me, do you have bonds here in this place?"

[mooneye]

"Not so much." He shrugged. "But I'm still fairly new here."

[facevalue]

"How unfortunate. I have seen many people of your pathetic clan walking around here. Is there a reason they do not like you?"