"Good." He lifted a hand and tapped a finger against the center of his chest, over his heart. "The way I view you, I can't say exactly. Yes, like my baby cousin, but that doesn't explain it well enough. If I hadn't had you to think of when things were dark for me..." He moved his hand to his head and and made a sort of violent motion. A brief, rapid expression of pain.
He stayed still and stiff for a moment before melting against him, and returning the embrace. Holding him tight, shutting his eye, and burying his face in the crook of his shoulder. He gave one long, hard shudder.
He hugged him tight to him and tilted his head to press his cheek against his hair, not saying anything at all. He... And to think he'd thought that maybe Obito didn't care anymore at points because he'd never come home. He felt a bit guilty about that, but he wouldn't apologize. He suspected that none was needed.
Obito ran one hand down Itachi's back and then back up, clutching him like a drowning man might a piece of lifesaving flotsam. Then he laughed unsteadily and pulled back, pausing to take the younger Uchiha's head in his hands and press their foreheads together before he took a step away.
He was raw, for a moment. The pain, the sorrow, the deadly strangeness and danger of him all visible before he restrained himself once more. "I'm not all whole, Itachi. Not just on the outside but my mind, too. That's why..." he trailed off, not sure if he was doing a very good job explaining anything. "Well, that's why. Usually it's fine but... I have lapses."
He trailed his hand down his arm, pensive as he watched him. "Just... remember I'm here too, for you, not just as a symbol, okay?" It was a murmur, soft, and he turned to slowly start picking his way again.
"Yes. I will remember." He said it in such a way that it wasn't quite clear whether he was speaking just to himself or not. And he followed Itachi noiselessly again, thinking.
He didn't press him to speak, instead comfortably moving through the foliage. He was so much quieter than a child, really. The constant chatter he'd done when he wasn't just closely observing was gone. The child clumsiness was gone. He'd grown and changed, in several respects.
And Obito looked up and thought back to years and years ago. Walking through these same woods when they were boys. He had been charmed by the sweet nature and energy of the little child. Now he found himself charmed by his grace. It was interesting, what time did.
He looked over his shoulder at him when he realized he was being watched, tilting his head as he easily avoided a tree without facing it, though he didn't ask anything, merely observing him in return for a long moment before returning his gaze to the path.
He was the kind of person who stared without shame, when he wanted to. He had been away from society for so long. In the cave he'd had Madara and the clones to talk to--and none of them had acted like human beings at all. And so Obito had stopped acting like a human being around them, and only bothered picking up enough propriety to slip by with once he was out in the real world again.
When he had looked his fill, he started meandering. Lagging back to examine things, wandering off the path, catching up to walk beside Itachi and sometimes speeding up ahead before loping back again.
He observed Obito with all the quiet intensity he ever had as a child, merely paying attention to his doings, following him wordlessly with his eyes as he continued at his same even pace until finally, they came within sight of the house.
"This place is well hidden," Obito remarked, darting back to the road from where he had been wandering through the trees. And it was. Just a little house away from everything, very much a part of the dense, dark woods around it.
"Perfect." Obito felt the muscles in his shoulders loosen a bit, he was so genuinely glad to hear it. He had a lot of energy, but still. Weeks on the road made the prospect of somewhere there might be a bath and a bed to sleep in very appealing. "Feels like home already. Shall we?"
He watched the bird flap away, a scrap of darkness above them that was quickly gone over the tops of the trees. Good. Tsunade had called him in--presumably--to give the ANBU less to worry about, not more. He started down the weathered stone pathway that wound down to the forested nook the house was tucked back in.
He looked back to Obito once the bird was out of sight, then trailed after him, more relaxed now that he knew he didn't need to worry for a little longer.
This was nice. Quiet, a little cold, enclosed. Obito rummaged and searched with quick fingers around the path and the front of the place until he found the key, slid it into the lock and pushed the door open.
Obito took a deep, quiet breath. Tasting the air. Indeed, there was a scent of mint and sage. A cool, herby mix. A whiff of other earthy things, too. The place was not too big. Kitchen and cupboards, table, shelves, bed. "Are those your books?"
He circles the room, exploring. Looking into drawers to find stored food, cups and bowls. By the bed there is a large trunk filled with fluffy blankets and cushions. He pauses closer to the shelf with the books on it and reads some of the titles.
He flushes as he realizes that one of the books on the shelf was once Obito's, but he didn't comment on it. He'd gotten it from Shisui, who had ended up with, and not appreciated it, after Obito 'died'. It was that first book of Jiraiya's that so few people knew about.
"It's a nice place to go, when I need a little breathing room."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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And now I'm off--goodnight!
Good night!
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He was raw, for a moment. The pain, the sorrow, the deadly strangeness and danger of him all visible before he restrained himself once more. "I'm not all whole, Itachi. Not just on the outside but my mind, too. That's why..." he trailed off, not sure if he was doing a very good job explaining anything. "Well, that's why. Usually it's fine but... I have lapses."
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When he had looked his fill, he started meandering. Lagging back to examine things, wandering off the path, catching up to walk beside Itachi and sometimes speeding up ahead before loping back again.
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Must head off early--night!
Sleep well!
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"It's a nice place to go, when I need a little breathing room."
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thought I replied to this o.o
no prob!
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going to bed before I tip out of my chair now g'night
Good idea--good night!
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what timezone are you? ::suddenly curious::
Mountain time zone! It's about 6:30 here. You?
8:30 here~ You share a timezone with Itachi-san and Sasuke
Ah, cool that some of us are close together!
Close is relative...
Lol, very relative... A couple of my other RP partners are European.
Haha, Sas is a Canadian
So awesome, people from everywhere <3
Even Serbia!
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