.

.

It is the first time in a long time that Tobirama has set foot in the heart of the village, but today is the day the village clans will be casting their votes for Obito's proposed educational changes. "Preposterous," one of the villagers says, looking at the pamphlets. "He's hollowed out the entire curriculum."

"Japanese? Biology? Mathematics? What on earth can a shinobi do with this?"

"Tobirama-sama," another villager says. "What do you think about it?"

Tobirama crosses his arms. "I heard that Uchiha Madara is opposed to it..."

The villagers murmur their assent, agreeing with him.

"...which is more than enough reason to support it."

The villagers blink. "Huh?"

xXx

.

Obito is nervous. He walks into the war room, tense and battle-ready. It reminds him of the time when he stood atop the Juubi, how he looked down upon the entire allied shinobi army, balancing precariously on the rounded head of the Ten-Tails' body with only the thin anchor of Hashirama's cells attaching him. He walks through the door and all the clan leaders' eyes turn toward him, and he has that same unmistakable itch he felt when the shinobi alliance stared up at him, aghast and determined and horrified by what he was about to do to them.

"Thank you for coming," Obito says. "We're convening now to talk about proposed changes to the education system. Be advised, if this passes, these will be implemented on a trial basis only. I look forward to hearing the rest of your input."

He sits. All eyes are on him but Obito is used to this, drawing on all his years working as Madara to keep an air of authority and detached indifference.

The measure fails. The votes come in and the tally is overwhelmingly opposed. Obito sits at his desk as Shizune tonelessly relays the results, his eyes fixed on a dark spot on his desk while she talks. "Thank you," he murmurs. She bows and leaves, leaving Obito alone.

He's too tired to use the Kamui, so he walks back home. It's dark but not that late yet, and as he walks he can see the yellow lamplight leaks out into the evening darkness, children and families having dinner or laughing and spending together. When Obito was a child, he had no one to go home to, so he would sit alone in his room and eat cup ramen, usually stewing over Kakashi and feeling stupid and lonely. Sometimes, though, there would be a knocking at his door, and he'd open it to find Rin standing at his doorstep, holding up a plastic bag of snacks and asking if she could join him.

He comes home now, unlocking the door and blinking a bit at the yellow light. Rin is cooking - he can hear the sound of running water as she washes a pot, a simple stew bubbling on the stove. "Hey," she says. She turns off the water, wiping her hands on a towel to greet him. "How did it go?"

"Terrible," Obito says, and she hugs him.

"Did it not pass?" she asks, rubbing his back. He shakes his head.

"No, but I didn't expect it to." He gives her a little squeeze, then leans over her shoulder. "That smells good, what are you cooking?"

"Tsukiyaki," Rin says. She walks back to the stove. "It's just boiling things in a pot, I figure that should be easy enough for me."

"Where's the baby?"

"I put him to bed already." Rin glances up and smiles at him.

She's starting to show a little bit. There's a slight fullness just below the ridge of her navel, which wouldn't be noticeable unless people knew she was pregnant. He steps behind her and rests his palm over the curve of her belly. Her skin is soft and warm and she smells like strawberry shampoo and clean soap, and Obito smiles a bit, hugging her closer.

It's always been this way. All his life, he's done nothing but fail - fail his exams, fail becoming chuunin. Fail becoming whatever was expected of him as a member of the Uchiha clan, fail awakening his Sharingan. But no matter what happened, Rin was there for him, sitting with him on the bench and wrapping the cuts on his hand. She sits with him now, taking a plate of food to the couch so they can cuddle and eat together. She laughs and holds up a chopstick of food toward him, one hand on his thigh as she leans forward and tries to feed him.

Obito laughs. It feels good to sit next to her, and even though the day sucked and he's pretty sure he's the worst Hokage ever to lead the village, it doesn't really matter because Rin is with him.