Chapter Text
Obito groaned. He didn’t want to get up yet. Surely he still had time, right? Whatever he needed to do could wait a couple more moments. Besides, everything ached and—— shouldn’t be aching, actually.
Obito’s eyes opened, finding himself under a canopy of trees. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a green glow over everything. And Obito—-
Obito was supposed to be dead. He remembered dying. He remembered the war, and fighting, and deciding to try to protect those kids, and Kakashi, and he had died.
He sits up, looking around. He couldn’t recognize right off the bat where he was, but it definitely wasn’t where he had been. He gets himself to stand, wondering if this was what it felt like to be old. To have his very bones creak and ache. Then again, he had put his body through hell to train himself, and it was probably starting to catch up to his dumb ass. That and, well, he had died . For real this time, unlike getting half this body crushed by a rock.
Or he had thought it was for real this time. He was being proved wrong just by standing here though.
He hears the rustling of the bushes beside him, but he can’t act fast enough before a small child bursted through the leaves, wide eyes looking up at him. They stared at each other for what felt like a good while, though it was only a couple seconds before a man stepped over the bushes, joining them in their little spot of the forest. The boy wheeled around to the other, pointing at Obito without a hint of decorum.
“Nii-san! He’s awake!”
The older brother gives a quiet— though not angry— ‘don’t point’ as Obito blinks at the both of them. He recognized him. It was Fugaku. He had a stern look on his face, though not quite what it would become as he got older, and became head of the clan. That meant the younger boy— his younger brother— was Obito . Maybe about 5 or so, which placed Fugaku around 20. But how was that possible? Obito was standing right there. And yet, the more he looked at the boy, the more he recognized him as his younger self, blinking up at him. He had probably found him laying there unconscious, and, unable to do anything himself, got Fugaku to help him.
“And who would you be?”
Obito’s attention focuses on Fugaku, sure that he had pinned Obito for an Uchiha. And with him on his way to becoming head of the clan, Fugaku knew every Uchiha of the clan. And yet, here was Obito, unknown. His mind blanks as he realizes he can’t tell the man his actual name. That would raise suspicion. So, instead, he says the first thing that comes to mind.
“Tobi.”
Fucking damn it . That stupid pseudonym was going to haunt him for all eternity, wasn’t it? Why was that always the first name to come to mind? It wasn’t even clever . It was just his name without an o, and the letters moved around! He hears a small sound, and looks down at his younger self to find the boy staring up at him—--
Oh, of course his little 5 year old brain thought it was a cool name. Obito could admit it– he had always had bad taste. With his stupid little jacket that only got stupider has he got older, and—-
Obito cuts off the train of thought. Why was he thinking like that? The boy was a kid , of course he was going to have bad taste. He didn’t know what good taste was. He didn’t have the hindsight that Obito had now.
Had Obito…..always had that kind of thought about himself?
He didn’t want to dwell too long on it, instead coming up with a story for himself.
“You see I was—” Think faster, Obito! “---born out of wedlock!” That actually wasn’t bad. Most marriages in the Uchiha Clan were arranged. It was very important to have good genes for your children, and so, marriage prospects were taken very seriously. Fugaku and Mikoto had been chosen for each other when they were about 10. Mikoto was smart and quick in thoughts and on her feet. She had awakened her Sharingan at 8 and was a good shinobi. She had been the perfect choice for one who would eventually be head of the clan, and would sire an heir.
It was only a bonus that Fugaku and Mikoto legitimately fell in love.
The fact that Obito hadn’t been arranged with someone before he had, uh, ‘died’ was actually abnormal. Especially since he had quite explicitly been conceived as a fall back in case something happened to Fugaku. Though, it was probably because his father had never had faith that he would actually become the head of the clan, so why worry about it.
Obito supposed he was right .
“My mother was so embarrassed to be carrying a child that was not her husband’s that she fled the village, settling down in a small village in the Land of Bears.” That sounded plausible, right? Not too far away from Konoha, but far enough for there to be no recognition. It would also handwave away why Fugaku wouldn’t have known about him. “I just recently found out about my lineage about a year ago. Mother passed away a couple months back, and I decided that I wished to find out more. And so, I seeked out Konohagakure, and hopefully, the clan where I hail from.”
There are a couple moments of silence between the three of them, and Obito’s honestly kind of impressed his child self is in fact being quiet, looking up at Obito for a moment before looking back to Fugaku, looking for a sign to follow his decision. Obito had looked up to Fugaku for a good long while, seeing him as a cool, strong older brother. Finally, Fugaku gives a small hum and a nod.
“Well, I can tell by your chakra that you are definitely an Uchiha, though it is understandable that it would be kept hidden from you. The less people who knew, the better. The Sharingan is quite sought after, and you can never be too sure.” Oh, yeah, that was true. Obito was surprised he hadn’t remembered that himself. That would explain why he hadn’t known he was an Uchiha before. He’s glad that’s what Fugaku came to himself. More natural that way instead of Obito planting the seed himself. Less suspicious.
“I will have to take you to Father, however.” Fuck . He’d be accepted into the clan, sure, but not trusted if his father had anything to say about it. While Fugaku would just see an Uchiha wishing to connect with his clan, the current head was very sins of the father, sins of the son. Sins of the mother? The point is, Obito was supposedly conceived by people who were not married, and that was taboo. It didn’t help that Obito was pretty sure he didn’t have his Sharingan anymore. He doesn’t say anything though, only giving an understanding nod. Little Obito gives a wide grin, and he notices the boy is missing a tooth. Actually, he’s pretty sure he can remember exactly how he lost that tooth. Tin cans to the face hurt.
“I’m Obito!” The small child seems eager to pipe up, having been quiet for far too long. “And this is my Nii-san, Fugaku!” He then turns to his older brother. “He’s coming back to the clan with us?” Fugaku nods in response.
“He is an Uchiha. It is only right to help him back.” The boy nods and starts heading back first, pushing his way through the bushes he had first popped out of as Fugaku and Obito follow behind.
This was going to be…. interesting.