AU RP--

[mooneye]

...

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Even Serbia!

[youngesthokage]

"...He captured my attention. I..." He paused a moment, tightening his fingers a bit, looking down at their fingers. "You were gone too long."

[mooneye]

He wasn't expecting the physical sting of that. A kind of tightness, a sharp prickling in his chest. What was it? He couldn't name the feeling, exactly. He knew sorrow and loneliness, and rage, and it was not quite any of those things. It was different. He cringed.

After a long silence, very quietly, "...What if I hadn't been gone?"

[youngesthokage]

"I don't... I don't know." He didn't lift his head, hiding behind his bangs as he ran his thumb along the side of one of the hands holding his.

[mooneye]

What could he say? No words came to him. They couldn't know, he supposed, just what would have happened if they'd had all those years together.

He lifted the hand he still held and kissed the back of it, the fingers and fingertips, opened it to press his mouth against the palm.

[youngesthokage]

He lifted his gaze back to him at that, breath hitching as he watched him. He had no assurances for him one way or another, so he didn't try to give any, instead just setting the brush aside and lifting his hand to touch his cheek.

[mooneye]

He turned his face into the touch. And he looked away. What could he do? A strong and sudden urge to lean forward and take all that he wanted from the moment seized him. But it didn't feel right. And he wasn't sure why it didn't, exactly. Because who would he be taking anything from? The Kiri-nin? What would that matter?

He looked up at Itachi, keenly focused on him. "How do you feel about him? Your swordsman from the Mist?"

[youngesthokage]

He was quiet a moment, honestly thinking about the question before answering. "It makes me happy to be around him, and it bothered me that I needed to send him away for a while." It was a murmur, words being carefully chosen. "I could easily call it a sort of love."

[mooneye]

He was watching him closely. With all the sharp, still focus of an animal stalking through the trees, listening, waiting to lunge. When he seemed to be done speaking, Obito looked away. Not upset, but absorbed in his own thoughts. Turning the whole situation over in his mind.

He wondered if he could destroy that love. But the notion was repulsive to him. He had his twists and his darkness, his lies, his lapses into the wickedness and violence Madara had given him, but for all of that Obito valued what was good in the world. Love, all kinds.

[youngesthokage]

There was a moment of hesitation before he stroked his cheek, tone soft and concerned. "I hurt you?"

[mooneye]

He was distracted for just a bit longer before he seemed to come back to the room, the here and now. He looked at Itachi and then touched the hand stroking his cheek. "No," he shook his head, smiling though the expression did not quite reach his eye. "If that's the truth, then I'm glad for you. And I guess the guy can't be all bad."

A pause, more thoughtful and less grim. "You say he respects you for being able to subdue him? What if I tried to... hm, subdue him?"

[youngesthokage]

He hesitated a moment. "I don't know that it would go well, but I don't know that he would dislike you for it either. He values honesty above anything else though, and sometimes I get the sense he considers brute strength the most honest thing of all."

[mooneye]

He considered that. He was not always honest. He liked secrets, he liked masks and false identities. But he had chosen truth, hadn't he? When Rin had died and he could have picked dreams, he had picked the true world instead. That had to count for something.

"Brutal I can do," he said.

[youngesthokage]

"....There's going to be a lot of blood when you two meet isn't there?" He watched him intently. "This isn't going to turn into a fight over me, is it?"

[mooneye]

"Blood everywhere," he agreed, with an edge of eager glee. "As for that, I can't tell you for sure until I meet the guy."

[youngesthokage]

He eyed him intently. "You're simply reacting very... strongly."

[mooneye]

He shrugged. "I care about you. This guy is a murderer. So am I, so I know how untrustworthy they can be."

[youngesthokage]

"You say that like I've never killed anyone Obito-nii." It was a murmur, and he tilted his head to the side.

[mooneye]

He just looked at him. "But that's not the same," he said quietly, like it was obvious. And to him, it was. "You've never enjoyed it."

[youngesthokage]

"How are you so sure of that Obito-nii?" His voice was soft, and he watched him with intent eyes.

[mooneye]

Obito watched him back just as closely, and the shift in his expression revealed only that he wasn't sure, now. And he was more curious than surprised, but didn't press immediately for details.

[youngesthokage]

He sighed out a soft breath, reaching up and running his thumb over his empty eye, eyes contemplative. "I was involved in the purge. I didn't stand back and let others handle it. There were people I looked for, specifically."

[mooneye]

He drew a breath and held it for a few beats as the empty eye was touched. But he was curious about this. An event that--if he had been around for it--he would have been a part of as well. "And when you killed them, it was good?" he asked.

[youngesthokage]

He tilted his head. He wouldn't describe it as good. He wasn't -happy- about it, even then but... "Satisfying."

[mooneye]

He was quiet a while, watching him to see if he seemed to mean it and then nodding. He saw him as a little child that needed protection still, he thought. Of course that wasn't the case anymore. Not really.

[youngesthokage]

"I may not relish killing for killing's sake... but I'm not an innocent anymore Obito-nii."