Number three: moon
White ships, white ships
are floating in the sky,
white ships, white ships
are carrying the rain.
— a children's song.
…about the young moon.
When Obito returns to the clan, he receives a really warm welcome from his old acquaintances and miraculously alive elders.
The latter is the most suspicious. They fawn over him, nod paternalistically, and they obviously count on something.
Unlike Madara.
Madara hisses, telling to shove off and stop disturbing him, Madara isn't really avoiding him as he is actually busy most of the days-weeks-months, though he always finds an excuse not to spend time together.
Obito racks his brains and tries to find the reason for such a strange reaction.
Almost finds.
And this reason, rare sideways glances, unsaid words and silenced offers that he sees in his eyes, gestures, even in his preposterous sighs, and if you know his habits and where to look at, then, in all honesty
damn-damn-damn.
Obito is a good sensor. The half of the body made of Hashirama's cells helps a bit in this difficult task, the Sharingan complements minor facts, his own experience compares details, hurriedly creating a consistent picture.
Obito summarizes all the scattered memories of Madara.
It's not like he wants to laugh hysterically.
But he's somewhere close to it.
Uchiha Madara, the world terror at the Warring States Era and Fourth Shinobi War — how to put it — has deigned to
fall in love.
With him. With Obito. Just Obito who did nothing at all for somebody to love him.
Yes, he played a role in the formation of the current clan head and his brother's identities, but he didn't really put an effort.
Anyway, how can you love someone you see once in a decade at best?
Obito sits on the tatami in the room that was given him. There are stacks of clan documents in front of him.
(and Kami forbid anyone should ask how they got here)
Madara fell in love with the arrogant strange boy, and now he probably combines running the village with his attempts to calm down after the extremely sudden appearance of Obito. Familiar and unfamiliar Obito.
Madara doesn't notice a coup preparing against him. Elders are gathering strength, biding their time and fueling the hate of common shinobi. Shinobi are obediently striving to fight, they wish to do something, to somehow change the world around them and to live. To take revenge on the insolent Senju and a bit on other clans because not many Uchiha abandoned the idea of blood vengeance.
This really looks like a joke.
Obito has long hair, a squinted glare, and a cheeky smile. Reckless grace is etched into everything he does.
His whole demeanor is appealing. The clansmen have forgotten his bickering with Tajima, arbitrary absences for weeks-months-years, they remember only his strength and stunning ability to lead and guide.
(this ability was honed eighty-years-later during the sabotage of Kirigakure no Sato and his comparatively successful attempts to rally the Akatsuki, and in comparison to them the Uchiha clan seems more like overfed and trained kittens than desperate cut-throats)
The clansmen want to overthrow Madara because, as a clan head, he's obsolete, but Izuna-sama will never dare or let someone to go against his brother. Obito, on the other hand, — the one with the character almost like Tajima's, the one with the face as if Tajima's, the one who is so Tajima, yet isn't him — fits the clan head's role without a question.
Obito is too Tajima in clansmen's eyes. In fact, the clan claimed long ago that he's Tajima's illegitimate son, only Obito knows nothing of this. Yes, he treats people a bit differently, but that's pardonable.
So Obito thinks.
Obito finally managed to find Zetsu and seal him. He spent more than twenty years on this, it had become his only purpose in this world, the reason for living. All to prevent from repeating the shinobi history created by Kaguya's third son. But all the same, Zetsu has already done too much to change the timeline.
Madara will be betrayed by the clan anyway. Has already been betrayed. And he will grow angry, he will go insane, he will break down.
And the story will return the world back on track.
Zetsu doesn't exist anymore, Zetsu is sealed and won't be able to get out of burnt scroll for obvious reasons, but something tells Obito: Kaguya's story will find its audience — already found, he told it himself to little Madara, such an idiot — and he will remember the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and all the events will repeat themselves right up to the Fourth Shinobi War.
Obito can't let that happen.
Obito is at a crossroads.
He is incredibly powerful, he survived his two deaths, outlived Uzumaki Naruto and spiteful Tajima who in a way really was like a father to him with his constant habit of mentoring him, however, Obito has no idea what to do.
He wishes he had Shisui's power here. Kotoamatsukami would solve all the problems quickly if you had the strength to wield it. Or Kakashi, he would surely find the major points of this situation and steer it in the right direction. Or Minato-sensei. Especially Minato-sensei because Obito has never known a man so cunning in his entire life: not only he would turn the events in his favor but benefit from every step at the same time.
Obito has never thought like Minato-sensei did. He could pretend to be naive as much as he wanted (sometimes he didn't even pretend), but, unfortunately, he couldn't analyze so expertly.
"How are you going to deal with it?" Izuna jumps into the open window. Izuna flashes the Mangekyou, ready to attack at any second, but Obito doesn't even twitch.
"With what? I've just planned to settle down in Konoha." Izuna angrily huffs. Obito derisively squints his eyes with an understanding smile.
Konoha.
Konoha is advanced, advanced approximately a few decades before it should have. The main changes happened during and after the First Shinobi War, yet in this timeline, they have already created the ANBU, categorized shinobi ranks and their responsibilities, even the administration.
In this timeline, the treaty with the daimyo was concluded when the Village was founded. There will be neither the alliance with the Uzumaki nor Gokage Kaidan where were sold eight out of nine caught bijuu to get the money for Konoha's development.
Actually, no one has caught bijuu.
Because they don't exist.
There are Datara, Deidarabotchi, and its other names.
There is Shinju. The tree in one of the small countries, and almost everything blooms near it. And if you don't shed blood on that earth, it will grow for many years.
Things aren't as simple concerning the tree and its role in the world as he'd like.
"Stop! You know what's going on in the clan!" Obito is studying Izuna for some time before he takes a chance and speaks out.
"You do know what's going on in the clan, Izuna-kun, then tell me what have youdone? Have you stopped the unrest? Shut up the elders and troublemakers? You could have, your place in the clan is just a little lower than Madara's, so what have you done?"
Obito knows that this accusation is undeserved, that Izuna has been running more than a hamster in a wheel, trying to handle everything, that if it had been within his power, Izuna would have prevented everything, shut up the others and civilized the rest of the clan. His fussing doesn't achieve any results.
And Izuna fully knows of Obito's awareness.
"It's impossible. They've already… Brother thinks it's my paranoia. You evaded answering."
Izuna is nervous. Obito keeps fearlessly staring into his Mangekyou and wonders if this disheveled almost-Sasuke understood why his vision had stopped deteriorating with the usage of his powers.
Even a small amount of Senju's chakra, of Ashura's chakra and power, is enough to neutralize "the Uchiha's curse". While assembling Izuna's intestines that had been profoundly messed up by Tobirama, he had to not only pour chakra but to remember how to grow white Zetsu's flesh from Hashirama's cells, the most malleable material — Obito still doesn't know of anything similar.
(and well, he had to tear out these cells from his own body, he couldn't ask the original to provide a sample of skin, or better yet, of flesh, could he?)
Izuna owes his eyes to Obito and his collection stored in the Kamui dimension since the clan's assassination seventy-or-less-years-later. After all, Madara didn't think of transplanting his eyes to dying brother, and sorry scraps of his conscience didn't let him leave Izuna blind.
"I didn't. It's just that you didn't like my answer."
"Well. Then-"
"Then you'll cut my head off? Think of the consequences, Izuna-kun. About your helplessness before me and about what would happen if you did manage to kill me. You won't like both outcomes."
Izuna tries to argue, to stand for something known only to him.
And trails off.
Calms down.
"Too much certainty for you. You know if you don't talk nonsense with some incomprehensible philosophical subtext, then it means, you've decided something. This habit always failed you."
Obito won't mention his decade-long absence, the possibility of the personality change and other holes in Izuna's theory. He managed to figure out the main point and voice it.
Obito is still a fool, strange Obito from the Uchiha who always mixes up his stories and therefore rarely speaks clearly.
"You've grown, Izuna-kun."
Izuna cringes, out of habit rather than anything he impatiently places his hand on the hilt of the katana. Disrespect and the most apparent hint, though Obito deliberately ignores the gesture.
"Glad you finally noticed. But my question is the same, what will you do?"
Obito doesn't rush to reply.
Izuna thinks Obito benefits from eliminating Madara during the uprising, if not from becoming the clan head.
Madara is a too unpredictable variable. And this variable is so easy to calculate at the same time. But too many things depend on Madara — Indra as yet. There's no place for mistakes.
As for a shinobi, as for the pupil of one old man with a stupid habit of leaning on a scythe instead of a crutch, as for the man who almost plunged the world into madness, the answer is obvious.
This opportunity shouldn't be missed because the appearance of the next one is extremely doubtful.
(because all the circumstances are perfect because it will cause the least resonance in the society, because…)
He should agree to the — yet — unstated offer of the clan's fraction.
But every time he thinks like this Obito remembers his own conclusions.
Ridiculous "Uchiha Madara has deigned to fall in love" doesn't make him laugh anymore, instead he reminiscences their gatherings near the bonfire in the (second) childhood, the boy who trustingly listened to Obito's every word and their frequent cosy bickering over nothing.
Obito, apparently, is even disgusted.
Disgusted by himself, even though his actions completely fit the morals of these times. Because sometimes you need to sacrifice something. It is tacitly written in the shinobi code, it is visible between the lines of S-rank missions. Not in the name of the mission, but the peace.
Even if you need to sacrifice yourself.
Even if you need to sacrifice someone who will rip anyone's throat for your sake.
"I wish I knew."
Izuna can't hold out again. Nervously, fiddling the sleeve of the kimono, he shouts furiously:
"Why do you doubt?! You're on my brother's side, so what's there to think about?!"
Obito shrugs. He won't ask Izuna why did he doubt him when he barged into his room, ready to kill him for a wrong word.
He will tell the truth.
"What makes you think like that? First of all, I'm on my own side."
Izuna stays silent for a long time. He glares at Obito with the Mangekyou, then closes his eyes, deactivating the doujutsu.
"Then I suggest you make the right choice."
And leaves through the window.
Obito can't help but chuckle.
The right choice, Izuna, isn't the one you expect.
Obito just "forgets" about the conversation they had, he explores Konoha and settles in a new house. He barely managed to buy it, honestly. He had to get some acquaintances involved, but it was worth it.
Eighty years later — or a bit less, after all, the compound had been rebuilt a few times by the Fourth Shinobi War — it won't change much. There are no old paintings and vases somebody brought from the missions, no canvas with ideally drawn kanjis that was hanging in front of the entrance, no… There is nothing. Except for the house. Except for the grounds around it.
And Obito patiently fills the empty space. Obito is a Konohagakure shinobi with a respective hitai-ate now, so he has every right to complete missions ranging from D to A. They won't trust him with something higher, and there's no need for that: there are comparatively a lot of missions, he has more than enough money for food and other things.
He is ignoring the elders poking around. He isn't doing it deliberately, Obito still just doesn't know what to do, he is just confused and lets things slide, he is just running away from the responsibility and the unfolding pictures of the future.
He probably has enough power to kill Madara. If need be.
Sometimes Izuna glares at him with angry eyes, but he has much more problems than Obito does, so there's no time left for the prodigal relative.
Obito doesn't mind.
Obito settles in familiar-unfamiliar Konoha. Meets new people outside the clan, hangs out with the Senju and the Hatake.
Kakashi's relatives have in common with him only looks, definitely not the character.
Madara still prefers not to come across Obito. Although, he doesn't really come across the whole clan. The only exception is Izuna, and even he doesn't get much attention.
Obito unwittingly realizes it isn't just bad, it totally sucks.
Madara is stuck in business, in Konoha and somewhere in the state apparatus, without noticing he gets into politics and economics as he asks for a larger budget for unexpected expenses or attends daimyo's meetings when neither Hashirama nor Tobirama has time for that.
Obito knows how to listen and hear. At first, he thought the Uchiha were the problem, but later the situation cleared up. A coup against a coup. Shinobi believe Hashirama is the better leader, aristocrats have realized what's going on and where it will lead, they contemplate how to approach Hashirama and choose Madara as a more easily manipulated target, while the people in the latter's clan concern themselves with a takeover.
He wonders if Izuna knows about the shift in civilian upper class? Unlikely.
Obito tells himself it will benefit him, and anyway, the situation will go downhill even without Zetsu, Madara will leave, etcetera, etcetera. The difference is just that the situation may result in a civil war. Not necessarily, but considering aristocrats' schemes and abilities, considering the clans, like the Inuzuka and the Akimichi, that still hasn't resigned, yet joined them, this is quite possible.
Obito can tell himself whatever he wants. He feels the other way.
(he is still disgusted-disgusted-disgusted by himself)
Because Izuna is right, resenting Obito. Because Obito is right in his desire to prevent the horrible future. Because the new moon paints the sky in silvery-grey, and the moon isn't crystal at all.
Obito smiles. Obito fools around, makes jokes without any sense and eats sweets, filling with them the void inside him, like he used to do.
And it was so long ago that he can't really remember when.
Obito is a fool. And Izuna was right about this too. And about his opinion on his stories in distant childhood as well.
His tales aren't meant for these times. His fiction and facts torn out of history are unneeded.
Then why did he really..?
Obito looks in the mirror and finally cuts his messy hair to the familiar short spikes, he observes Izuna's four "favorites" that are creating Izanami and Izanagi. Even though these enthusiasts are not involved in the coup. Obito heals their wounds and smacks them over the heads periodically.
However, he can heal wounds such as messed up liver only with the use of Hashirama's cells. And in these cases he should have called an iryonin, but Obito is too lazy for that even if some senor may feel the echoes of Senju chakra, causing gossips.
Though they are already gossiping. Because, while Hashirama's chakra can't be sensed in Obito's body, even a sorry excuse for a sensor, like Naka, has noticed the traits similar to Senju. Obito lets these rumors pass by himself and his tender psyche.
Obito laughs. He observes how the clansmen prepare for the first stage of overthrowing Madara. Izuna wants to prevent the coup, but how can he accomplish it nearly alone — a few followers don't count, and he can't ask for Senjus' support, can he? — when his death is the priority in the plan?
Without Izuna, his moral anchor, Madara will definitely lose his mind. And it will soon come to mistakes. To obsession. To madness.
The first stage is the most important, then it will become easier. Madara will do all the work for the clansmen, and the only thing left to do will be to finish him off.
Be it physically or some other way, it doesn't matter.
Obito clenches his teeth and still remains idle. He wears Konoha's protector on the forehead and sometimes takes missions.
They are psychos. Murders. Not little kids. They will get out somehow. Maybe.
If they do, Obito will cut them down the first.
Because rabid dogs are killed without a second thought. And after getting out of this shit, brothers will be just that.
Obito observes the preparations for the Shodai Hokage and his clanswoman's wedding and knows in advance this is the best opportunity to attack.
Obito shouldn't have returned. If he couldn't bring himself to do so, then he should have just stayed for a few weeks and left again — he didn't have enough willpower even for that.
Obito has returned to his home. His own home with its rooftop where you can clearly see Hokage's faces — just one face for the time being, the road to the Hokage tower and the compound's guard post. He has returned to the society that is a terrible mess of different clans and traditions brought by some civilians.
He has returned to the place where problems seem irrelevant and solvable.
Except for one. But soon it will cease to be. There's nothing to worry about.
Finally, Obito can let out a calm breath, he doesn't need to rush somewhere because of a small clue concerning that sly creature, to worry about paranoia's itching that tells him not to trust anyone.
Obito can cover himself with the blankets, like he did when he was a child, and spit on revolutions-riots-schemes and other's opinion, feel safe from this fucking world that only stabs in the heart again and again.
Like it happened with Rin.
Like it is happening with Madara. Well, not actually with Madara and not like it happened with Rin, though it hurts just as much.
But for some reason, he can't breathe. Can't let out a breath. He is choking.
And he can't leave, something holds him. Maybe memories or maybe foolish biases.
Or someone.
Still alive someone.
But, of course, this is stupid and not like with Rin. Because for Rin he peeled himself from the earth and existed for decades with his last ounce of strenght while he dooms Madara to death almost with his own hands.
The new moon looms over Obito's head in a reproachful silence, rarely hiding behind the pre-dawn greyish-white clouds.