Obito was intimidated, but he was never one to succumb to pressure. He felt like scratching the back of his neck in this situation, but fought against it. He gazed at the familiar man he called his sensei, and thought to himself. 'he has an eerily strong resemblance to that nine tails brat.' Collecting his thoughts, he stared at the man, who's face had remained stoic. 'the last thing I'd want is to have to fight this guy.. I'm currently nowhere near that level..' honestly, he froze up at that idea and felt a chill go up his spine.
"I'm just an old friend, I'm a traveller visiting here." He attempted to change his voice to a more deeper, monotone sound. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kakashi staring at them both. He could feel Minato eyeing him suspiciously, but then felt his gaze return to normal.
"Sorry, I've just been on edge during the war."
He could tell that the familiar spiky-haired sensei was being truthful. Obito sighed and celebrated internally that he managed to avoid an altercation. But there was still something so sharp, uncomfortable and evil gnawing at him. He felt guilty for everything he had done, and a part of him wished to just take off the mask and say he's back. But, if he wants to save the future he must get stronger. Strong to where even the Kage would fear him. Strong to where people would flee if they saw him in battle. Finishing his reverie, he turned his back. As he walked away, he could feel the two shinobi staring intently behind him.
Before contemplating his early return to Madara's humble abode (or well his crappy tiny cave), Obito spotted one of the elderly ladies he used to help carry things; usually to and from the market. She was the sweetest soul, but it seemed age had been getting to her rapidly, perhaps unintentionally due to his absence. He could see the huge basket of groceries she was holding, and it honestly enraged him that nobody would help her. 'I guess there's still some good in me after all..' Obito averted his gaze to the floor, walking purposefully however to the old woman. He felt a voice come out his mouth, raspy and quickly interrupted himself. "AHEM- do you need help with carrying that? It seems heavy." He attempted to deepen his voice a few octaves, and it seemed to work. At first the elderly lady felt perturbed due to this person, but her frown turned into a slight smile. She gave a slight nod as that was all the incentive Obito needed as he almost vanished out of sight and returned in front of the fine-woven basket. He could definitely see a huge difference in his raw taijutsu abilities, as he never remembered being this fast at this age.
He lifted the basket (weighing no less than 20 kilograms) in a millisecond as if it were the weight of an insect. After helping deliver the baskets, although it had been such a small deed of kindness he couldn't help but light up. He saw the old woman about to thank him but he jolted away like the wind. Not long after, he had returned to the abandoned cave which Madara resided in. He sat back on the cold hard floor of the cave, and greeted the old man.
"I've returned, Madara."'
"I'll order Zetsu to bring your food shortly." The old geezer muttered.
Obito just sheepishly grinned, staring at the man. Although Madara had been evil, he knows that he had been manipulated too, just like he was. He couldn't bear much resentment to the Uchiha, and just collected his thoughts. 'I hope I don't mess this timeline up.. I only have one chance after all..' Obito saw this unique plant like figure, pure white and unsettling bring out his food. It was a wild assortment of fruits, with some beef and pork cutlets. He had forgotten that the ancient Uchiha could actually cook, quite well actually. "Thanks old fart" He exclaimed jokingly.
"I may be old, but you best not forget I'm your ancestor, young whippersnapper." Madara stated with annoyance. 'uh oh' Obito thought. 'he's definitely about to go on another monolo-'
"Do you have any idea how many ladies swooned over me in my prime?" Madara stated with passion. "And I don't mean those losers from other clans, I mean from our own clan." Obito couldn't help but sigh and watch as the old geezer started smirking. "I was hot stuff back in the days, you know." Obito couldn't help but laugh at the old man. Although he couldn't say he liked him at this point, he certainly was eccentric. He stared at the man, he looked as old as the earth, looking all decrepit. His thoughts were cut off by a booming voice.
"Eat your food before it gets COLD!"
'Agh!' Obito covered his ears before quickly nodding and digging into his food. He noticed how Madara treated him very differently then in the past when he had been with this geezer. It seemed Madara somewhat liked him, which was absurd to think about. 'Yeah.. no way.' After Obito scarfed down his lunch like an animal, he thanked the old man. He decided it was time to get on with his training regimen and sat up, stretched for awfully long, then got into position. He had laid the palms of his hands flat on the floor, straighted his back, put one arm behind his back and began. He began doing countless one-armed pushups, and eventually finished for each arm. Finally, 2000. He reluctantly got up, then began training every single other part of his body. Madara gazed at the boy, with an expression unreadable.
Obito fiddled with the bandages around his eye, and then left his arms to fall beneath his sides. He began the intensive training routine that even Jonin level shinobi would be scared of.
Obito picked up a small boulder, weighing roughly a few hundred kilograms. He rested it on his back, and began squatting. At first it was only slightly tiring, until he got into the rep range of 100. His legs felt like combusting, they were shaking like jelly. He was thinking of taking a break, as he heard a familiar old geezer make a remark.
"Back in my day, shinobi stopped training once they had fallen unconscious." Madara was making a weirdly determined face. "This is nothing! Do 100 more you lazy brat!" Obito couldn't help but scoff in this situation. 'Lazy!? You're the one sitting down!' He wished to just yell, but that would just be pointless. He gritted his teeth, tensed his muscles and began repping the boulder like a crazy gorilla. Eventually, the numbers were reaching-
195! 196! 197! 198! 199! 200! Obito shuffled the boulder to the side, and fell face first onto the cold hard floor. This old fart had to be a sadist, because this workout routine is killing him. He slept like a log, then awoke the next day. He wiped his eye groggily, sat up and cleared his throat. Ahem. In this life, he wanted to learn more about the old geezer.. so he thought he might as well just ask him.
"So gramps.." Obito stared at the old man, who still had a formidable aura around him even at this old age. "Do you have any stories?" He sat on the floor awaiting a response. A long silence loomed over the room, as he felt a foreboding stare from Madara.
"I've lived, fought, loved and lost more than you can fathom. I'm the world's grumpiest old man." Obito felt slightly saddened, although he didn't show it. "You might think I'm ancient, but watch!" Madara stated monotonously. "One day you shall reach my age, brat." Obito stared at the old geezer, unpredictably.
"Maybe in a 1000 yea-" Obito couldn't finish his sentence before a cane prodded him in the back. 'OW!' They both let out a small smile, surprising anyone who would have known Madara in the past. Obito observed the cave, hearing the almost silent drips of the water, looking around in the dim lighting, and relaxed. He laid down on the cold, hard floor and shut his eyes. 'Today was a looong day.' Many thoughts were clouding his mind, but he blocked them all off so he could have silence in his mind. Although, it wouldn't stop a few from emerging such as-
'I wonder when i should return to Konoha' Obito tried to quiet his mind. 'I wonder how I will explain to them where I've been..' The constant thoughts in his mind were starting to irritate him. 'I wonder if the food is going to be tasty tomorrow...' wait.. that thought was nowhere near as important as the other ones. Finally quieting his mind, he drifted off into sleep..
He woke up, feeling horrible and disorientated. Why am I in my old apartment where I lived when I was 12? Obito looked at the door, feeling a huge sense of foreboding. He opened it and walked outside. He felt like vomiting as soon as he did, his heart pounding out of his chest, his breath being taken by the fear in his soul. He watched as everyone in the village was dead. The building had been ravaged and torn apart, there were so many murdered shinobi, it made him feel sick. Quickly calming himself, he reminded that he had also killed countless people, and this doesn't affect him. He walked slowly, onto the streets of Konoha. He didn't feel alone. Turning hastily behind him, he took out his kunai and before he could conjure up a thought, he saw his future self.
He quickly woke up, for real this time. 'that same shitty nightmare..' Brushing off his startledness, he sat up in the midst of the night and took a while contemplating his thoughts alone. Obito leapt up to his bed, and basked in the comfortability of his bed. This was way better than sleeping on the cold hard floor. No wonder he had a nightmare.
