.
.
At the base of the river, an Uchiha child toddles forward. There is something shiny in the riverbank and the child is curious. He reaches his chubby hands into the water.
Something yanks him backward, and the baby's little legs stumble. He lands squarely on his butt. The baby looks around, confused, then looks up. His face brightens. He reaches his little arms upward.
"What the hell am I looking at?" Obito says, as Madara picks up the toddler from across the river.
Obito is sitting next to Kakashi across the other side of the river, watching with growing disbelief as Uchiha Madara herds his children; one is strapped to his chest while the other one toddles around with a baby leash. Occasionally, he will toddle a little too far, and Madara will yank him backward.
"Have you seen his daughter?" Kakashi asks, and as if on cue, the little girl comes barreling down the trail, shrieking and laughing. There is smoke coming from behind the bushes and they both realize she has set something on fire. "He's practically a house husband," Kakashi says. He stretches, then leans against the tree comfortably. "Tsunade won't let him go on any missions."
"Why?" Obito says. Kakashi shrugs.
"Not trustworthy. And besides, Hashi-san herself is worth the strength of an entire platoon of nin. If something of that magnitude needs to be done, they'd rather just send her in."
"That doesn't anger him?" Obito watches as Madara shepherds his children away from the river. The toddler starts throwing a tantrum: Obito and Kakashi watch as Madara simply genjutsus him.
"I don't think so," Kakashi says, as Madara picks up the toddler the way he would a sack of flour, carrying both babies while his daughter follows him. "I think he actually enjoys it."
"Actually enjoys terrorizing the civilians in the village," Obito says. "I heard he set a local fruit stand on fire."