Ahhh thank you all so much for your support and reviews! I hope you'll continue enjoying this:))

Beta-read by the marvelous Sanatoria!

(Chapter title from Fool's Garden's "Meanwhile")

Chapter V - world of alibis

True to Minato's word, it wasn't long before Obito's hospital room was invaded by a small group of people, most of whom Obito would have preferred to not spend a lengthy amount of time with. His doctor had been quite reluctant to grant permission so early, but seeing as how Obito was faring well (too well too quickly, he could physically feel their want to stick needles all over his body and take him apart), she allowed it. Fortunately, he had more than enough time to muse over the most important aspects and come up with a stance that he hoped would please the authorities. He knew that while those closest to him were more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and place their trust in him (oh gods, what if he had chosen a different approach of destruction, those fools), others weren't as lenient, given that Obito had been missing for a year, and in that time period anyone could turn into anything. So he could only pray his story would work and he'd appear at least somewhat trustworthy. All he had to do was to seem like he had nothing to hide.

Wouldn't that be the deceit of the year.

The other troubling issues he had come across earlier had yet to be resolved. Vaguely, Obito remembered that his hair had turned white while becoming the Juubi's jinchuuriki, but that didn't explain why his hair now was without pigment. Had this body's experience actually been vastly different than his own? While being with Madara Obito couldn't say he... suffered. In fact, at the time he had been thankful and had held a lot of respect for the old man, since while in reality it had been Madara who orchestrated his "death" to turn Obito into his pawn, he hadn't known that then, so he really had thought Madara had just simply saved him. So the color of his hair remained a mystery with no obvious answer, and Obito cataloged it under "not very important at the moment".

The other problem that also was a worrying puzzle was his experience at the cave. In a mere blink of an eye his chakra had been depleted and coils damaged. However, since then nothing had appeared out of the ordinary and he hadn't felt anything strange regarding his chakra, too. Because of that, couldn't know whether it was only a one time thing or it could happen again. Being completely in the dark was beyond frustrating—there was little to no information to go on and all it did was sour his mood. This issue was vastly more important, but Obito simply didn't have enough data to form any clear ideas.

And the other problems... Well, Obito couldn't do much from a bed. They were matters he would approach as soon as he gained some freedom. For now, though...

There were people who required all of his attention.

Obito wasn't surprised by the company. Since it would only be an initial briefing, there was no need for a crowd and only the most vital ones attended. That being Uchiha Fugaku (an obvious choice, given that he was Obito's clan's head), Yamanaka Inoichi (Obito convinced himself that was just a safety measure, and the man was the leader of one of the Intelligence divisions, so it did make sense), Minato (of all people Obito thought he was the most deserving to be here) and the Hokage himself (Obito admitted that he might have misjudged the severity of the situation in others' eyes by just a little bit if even the village's leader chose to visit him personally—he had thought that'd be saved for a later date).

Obito was honestly just glad there was no Danzou or anyone of that sort present. That might have caused problems.

After the formal initial greeting (and subtle sealing to ensure their privacy), three of them stood by the foot of Obito's bed while Minato moved closer and took a seat besides him—an action of quiet reassurance. He felt a warm sensation at the gesture, even though he did not deserve such thoughtfulness. Obito didn't need it, but was still grateful.

Then, the Hokage cleared his throat and spoke:

''I'm glad to see you're faring better, Obito.'' His voice didn't betray any emotions, though it did have a tinge of softness. He clasped his hands behind his back. ''I hope they're treating you well here.''

Obito had allowed a bit of nervousness to seep through into his expression, just enough to not seem too anxious or overly composed, so his nod was slightly strained. He had decided it would be best to appear mostly calm, yet also mildly intimidated—from experience he knew it should help convince them he was being truthful and had no intention of lying. Even though he hated the idea of appearing frightened, he had survived much worse. This was nothing.

''Yes, Hokage-sama, they've been very nice to me,'' Obito answered, sounding just a tad quieter than usual. Not a single twitch would go unnoticed by some of these people, so everything about Obito's demeanor was carefully crafted to suit his goal.

''Good, good.'' Hiruzen nodded a couple of times. ''I'm sure you must be wishing to be released as quickly as possible, though.''

Obito cast a short, calculated glance to his sensei, who flashed a small smile in return. He looked back at Hiruzen and his observant gaze.

He opted for a safe answer.

''It does get a bit boring,'' Obito said, tugging the corner of his lips upwards. It had a tinge of wryness.

''Well then, it shouldn't take long after we're finished here,'' the Hokage spoke smoothly, as if it would be a mere discussion. On some level, Obito mused, perhaps that wasn't so wrong. But on all the other ones, it was anything but.

''Alright.'' The boy shifted into a straighter position.

A pregnant pause.

''Obito, what can you tell us about what happened?''

He lightly tensed his shoulders and flickered his gaze down to his lap. As if suddenly more on edge, he twiddled with the blanket between his fingers, lower lip between his teeth. Finally, he looked back up at the Hokage and spoke:

''It's, um, a bit... fuzzy around the edges, especially the, uh, beginning. I clearly remember being...'' A small wince crossed his face. ''...crushed, and I was sure that was the end, but then...'' He frowned, as if trying to remember an old dream. Finally, he just shook his head. ''Someone saved me. I'm not exactly sure why, though I do have a vague idea, if what they... uh, did and said was anything to go by.''

''And who was that person?'' Hiruzen prompted after a brief pause.

Obito shifted his eye to Fugaku. The man lifted his brow at the sudden attention.

''He introduced himself as Uchiha Madara.'' Obito's voice was considerably softer as he looked back at the Hokage. From his tone it was obvious he didn't find the idea laughable.

Varying degrees of shock and disbelief washed over them, and the atmosphere become almost too thick to breathe. In his peripheral vision Obito saw how Minato leaned forwards oh-so-slightly, wide eyes scanning every inch of the boy's scarred face, as if expecting, hoping to detect a lie. Only due to their professionalism did the men manage to quickly gather themselves, though their expressions were now much more solemn.

''That's impossible.'' Fugaku was the one who broke the sudden heavy silence, his voice on the verge of snappy. ''Madara has been dead for years.''

''Yeah, that's what I thought, too.'' Obito looked at his clan's head. A small frown crept onto his lips. ''He explained to me how he faked his own death, and then extended his lifespan by, uh, using this thing, like a very big statue, and its chakra somehow, though it got a bit confusing, and I never really, uh, asked about it... I don't know, but he seemed serious. I... don't think he was lying.''

A grave silence enveloped the group. Obito lowered his eye to his fidgeting hand again and shrunk in a bit on himself. Gods, appearing this intimidated was worse than acting as an idiot—at least being Tobi was somewhat amusing at times, but this... This was just awful, giving off the impression of an anxious, or worse, scared teenager. But Obito didn't waver—this is necessary, he reminded himself. So like bitter medicine, he swallowed it.

''Okay, so this man, Madara, found you.'' This time, it was Minato who spoke. His eyes seemed to burn holes in Obito's skull. He sounded reluctant. ''And you survived. A year is a long time to go without notice, though.''

The implications were obvious.

''I tried to leave, a lot of times!'' Obito lifted his gaze up to his sensei, suddenly louder, his voice laced with frustration. ''But he wouldn't let me go! I couldn't... I just... He said he needed me and just...''

He shook his head with a groan.

''...What did he do, then?''

Obito allowed a wince to twist his face momentarily, his hand seemingly unconsciously lifting to touch his white stump. He let the thick silence stretch for a beat longer before responding.

''It's somewhat... blurry, I can't remember much for some reason, but I know he...'' A visible tremble shook his frame. ''...experimented on me. He said he, uh, needed me to do something, though I don't...''

That was mostly a complete lie, at least from the way he implied it, but it was important to his story. And if that caused them to regard Madara more seriously, all the better.

Obito felt a tentative, yet comforting hand land on his knee and he shot his look to Minato. His sensei wore a warm, reassuring smile, though its tenseness wasn't covered. His blue eyes were silently asking "are you alright?" If Obito had been any less controlled, he might have broken down right then and there. The guilt he had managed to barely keep below surface for a mere day was threatening to overtake him again, and he almost choked. This was wrong, so very horribly wrong—

He shouldn't be deceiving Minato like this. The last thing he should be doing to his sensei, who was too alive, was lying to his face with such perturbed ease— a cold, calculating part of his mind whispered that his was good, if even Minato believed his act, didn't see any cracks, then he should be fine, the other three should be convinced. This was good, good, but also so wrong, and the feeling was making him sick.

Just drown it, this is for Minato, for Kushina, for Kakashi, for all of them

However, Obito didn't allow any of these conflicting feelings seep through, not a drop. He just swallowed and lowered his hand to his side, responding to Minato with a ghostly, strained smile of his own. There was nothing to be changed now.

''...Obito, listen.'' The Hokage's serious voice shattered the silence. ''Did he tell you why he needed you?''

The addressed boy momentarily licked his lips and flickered his gaze to the old man.

He had decided it shouldn't harm to tell at least a bit of the truth – perhaps, if they took him seriously, they would be more on guard, and that couldn't be a bad thing. No doubt it would be difficult to be the only one on the lookout.

So Obito opened his mouth.

''He—'' And immediately, confusion with panic quickly following flared through his veins, causing him to freeze for a fleeting moment. Obito quickly cast his eye downwards and chewed on his lip as if deliberating, while in reality, his mind was thrown into an unexpected frenzy. He couldn't speak. All words associated with Madara's plans were suddenly lost to him the moment he tried to utter them. They physically wouldn't come, as if someone had cut down his vocal cords. The implications of this were terrifying and suddenly an issue from before appeared that much more grave and oh gods, don't tell me this is what I think it is—''...didn't say exactly, not that I remember at least.''

The group's scrutinizing eyes were now too close, too sharp, too perceptive, keep it together dammit, you're not some fucking child

''Nothing at all?''

''Well, he did talk weirdly a lot about how the world is rotten,'' Obito forced a thoughtful frown to appear. At least he could talk that much about it. ''And how I'd see it eventually... Never really understood what exactly he meant, though.''

The men shared a look. Obito wasn't sure what it meant, but at that moment his mind was rather disheveled and it already took more focus to keep his facade impeccable, so he didn't ponder much about it. Now more than ever he wished for this subtle interrogation to be over.

An unexpected yet very concerning wrench had been thrown into his plans.

''How did you manage to escape, then?'' Inoichi spoke up, glancing over Obito's body. ''I take it he didn't just let you go.''

''...It's a bit complicated. There was this white... thing, like an artificial human, who one day told me that Kakashi and Rin were in trouble.'' It didn't take a lot of effort to make his voice sound foreboding. ''And I couldn't just... do nothing. So I tried to get out more than ever, and Madara actually let me, saying strange things like 'you'll come back to me'. Didn't really think about it at that time, I just had to get to Kakashi and Rin, so I took the opportunity. But when I finally got to them...'' A shaky inhale. Minato tightened his hold. ''For a moment, I understood what Madara meant,'' Obito's eye grew dark, and he had to forcefully keep his voice from dropping to a hiss. Control yourself, dammit—''And I made sure they never hurt anyone ever again.''

''Wait,'' Fugaku suddenly spoke up. He sounded startled, disbelieving. ''You were the one who murdered all those Kiri-nin?''

''They were responsible for Rin's death and were going to kill Kakashi. I could not let them.''

Again, only partly true.

They didn't need to know that.

''...Obito.'' Hiruzen stared at the boy intently, voice suddenly lower and much more serious than before. ''A very particular technique was used on those men. Are you saying you are capable of performing it?''

Obito licked his drying lips.

''You're talking about Mokuton, right?''

By that point, it seemed almost impossible for the atmosphere to grow even more grave. For a short moment Obito amused himself with imagining all the scenarios where it would become beyond grave just like that. Best to keep it within some bounds.

''I'm sorry, but I can't really say much about it, because I don't really understand it myself,'' Obito continued after a brief pause when no one responded. Their looks were answer enough. ''That was the first time I used it, so... Though Madara did mention something about Hashirama's—'' or should that have been "Shodaime Hokage's"? ''—cells, and how this—'' He gestured to the visible white part of his body. ''—is made of that... somehow. So, uh, I guess Madara thought he'd awaken Mokuton by doing that, since Mokuton was the Shodaime's power. At least that's what he told me.'' Obito made sure to mutter under his breath "like that explained everything" just audibly enough for them to barely pick it up.

So far, so good. A quick scan confirmed the men were mostly concerned with Obito's words rather than Obito himself (Minato fell into a different category altogether, so he didn't count). Which was what he wanted, he told himself, this was good.

Keep it down, keep it down, keep your head down—

''What happened next, then?''

Right, he wasn't finished.

''After that, I decided to go back to Madara. He seemed too dangerous to be left alone, and I knew I had to do something. But I misjudged both of our abilities.'' Obito let a wince play out. ''And after barely escaping the second time, I didn't want to test my luck anymore, so, uh, here I am.''

For a short while they digested the information.

''...I see,'' Hiruzen finally broke the tense silence. His eyes wandered off somewhere to the side, as if he were in deep thought, and after a couple of seconds they shifted back. ''Well, Obito, you've told us quite a bit of concerning information. Is there anything else in particular you'd like to add?''

Obito pondered for a moment.

''...Madara was not alone,'' he opted to say. Better to have them keeping that in mind. ''He had an ally, though I don't know what. It didn't look human, not entirely at least, and his whole body was black. I only saw it a couple of times, so.''

The men once again shared an odd look. Inoichi subtly lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. Alright, that was a bit strange. They appeared to be having a silent conversation, and not the kind Obito would have expected. Not the kind where they discussed fresh, new information.

Slight uneasiness began creeping towards his heart. Obito greatly disliked being the one in the dark. That didn't happen very often. But he couldn't exactly ask about it. Not when he shouldn't even be able to understand their looks. He couldn't risk cracking his carefully crafted facade.

''Alright, Obito, we've heard enough for today.'' The Hokage inclined his head lightly. ''I believe we should let you rest and heal for now. After you're discharged, we will discuss your situation further.''

Obito merely nodded in response. The sooner they get out, the better. This trend of discovering something seriously troubling in the middle of a conversation was becoming more than a little irritating.

His interrogators one by one exited the room, though Minato lingered. He carefully inspected Obito's expression for a short while, seemingly debating with himself on what to say or whether to speak at all. Finally, he decided.

''Obito, if you ever want to talk, you can always come to me, you know that, right?''

He sounded concerned. Worried. But also unbelievably relieved. No doubt his mind was already suggesting scenarios of what ifs, none of them being any better than the last. Minato was light-years away from being greedy or stupid, he perfectly understood how horribly worse Obito's predicament could have been. It was painful to realize how close Minato was to the truth. Though perhaps even he could never imagine what actually had happened.

Obito feared his voice would betray him, but answered regardless:

''I know, Sensei.''

He could only hope Minato would interpret his tone and strained smile to his benefit.

Welpy welp, that was interesting

Definitely didn't see the last of those... peeps heh

I liked mentioned what's in store for next chapter, so I'm gonna start doing that from now on! Up next - my broken boi Kakashi finally says something :')) Bare in mind, though, I'm aiming for slow-burn, so. Be patient my dudes, nothing good comes quickly

Ah, and since a guest brought this topic up, let me clear something up for you - this story is going to be purely gen. What I mean is, it'll have canon couples, sure, but they'll be completely in the background. I will not imply any romantic or other attractions besides completely platonic. Of course, I, as a person, have my own preferences, and that may leak through sometimes, but other than that, nothing will happen and nothing will be consciously implied. But, of course, as readers you can take away whatever you want, everything's up for any interpretation that fits you:D

As always, drop down a review, follow, whatever, and until next week!~