Chapter Text
One would think the afterlife is simply… peace.
But then again, peace is something Obito has just admitted he understands nothing about. Peace isn’t putting everyone under a false dream where everything goes their way and everyone is happy. Apparently, Peace is something to fight for and to achieve rather than just pretending it's there.
Okay, so maybe not all of that was true and can be backed up by someone people would also believe in. Someone like Minato, or heck, even Naruto. Hell, it’s not even connected to the kind of peace he’s talking about. Cut him some slack.
After all, Obito just died.
That’s right.
He just died.
As in he just did this sacrifice to save those two kids. Used his Kamui to not let that rod hit Kakashi because, yeah, he’s that selfish.
He expected to see Rin, or maybe he did see Rin but only for a moment?
He wanted to be with Rin the moment he died willingly, seriously, was that too much to ask?!
Now why in the world is he being scrutinized at by an old looking fucker?
And who’s letting a fucking baby cry their ass out near his ear?
“Tsk.”
??
Did that old man just sneered at him?
“I was not told that there would be twins.”
“The midwife was also unaware until this very moment as well, Father. Apologies.”
Keeping his eyes wide open was hard. Why does he feel so claustrophobic? Something’s keeping his entire body wrapped — he hates it.
“Twins are a bad omen in this world.”
“R-Right, oyakata-sama.”
“Do you understand what I’m saying, truly?”
“....”
Suddenly, Obito’s vision moved.
Someone… Were they holding him? They’re trembling.
No, why was he being held? Why is a grown man like him being held?
Now that he notices it… This view… isn’t it weird to be so high up and be looking up still like this? He can see the old man’s nostrils.
And why is he being held like a damn—
“ ████ already gave birth to a child having the Six Eyes. 15 minutes later, news broke that there's another child after him.”
“We… didn’t detect his cursed energy enough to pinpoint—”
“Didn’t or don’t? That boy doesn’t have an ounce of cursed energy, does he?”
“Father, if I may, it’s still too early to tell—”
“What is the name of the boy with Six Eyes?”
Obito couldn’t help but scrunch his face between his fussing.
How unlucky for that boy to be born with six eyes. How is that even possible? Why aren’t they weirded out by even just saying that?
“Satoru.”
“The moment Satoru was born, every curse user in the world felt his arrival, you know that.”
“Of course, Father.”
“This boy here, however, slipped in through the cracks. Nothing good ever ends for every identical twin that is born. It is a weakness.”
“Father.”
Obito was mid groaning (why the fuck did he let out an almost baby cry) when the old man suddenly tapped his cane to the wooden floor hard, approaching him.
There’s a weird energy emanating from the man. It surrounded him – almost.
The old man’s hands raised, and suddenly it’s in front of Obito’s face.
Too close too close too close—
“Father!”
“In order for Satoru to succeed, this boy must die.”
His words rang clear in Obito’s head.
Die?
Didn’t he already die?
Look at this old man.
He literally just got here, what the fuck?
And suddenly he’s gonna die again?
For what?
For that Satoru to ‘succeed’?
The audacity.
The audacity of them all.
Suddenly, the person holding him moved out of the way, trembling.
Was that to save Obito or to save themselves?
They were still trembling, more so now that the realisation of what they’ve done settled.
“O-Oyakata-sama! I-I… I a-apolo—”
“Tsk. Useless woman.”
“FATHER!”
The old man snapped his fingers and then—
Blood?
Oh.
They were beheaded.
Right in front of Obito?
While she was holding Obito.
Still holding Obito, despite the body already headless and brought to their knees.
Ah, they were saving Obito. In a way, still.
And the old man killed them.
Ha.
Really?
Obito feels like trembling.
No— why is he empathising with this situation too much?
He’s seen death. Thousands. Caused more of it, even.
And suddenly the death of a faceless person is making him feel like a 4 year old Uchiha being brought to an aftermath of a battlefield to stimulate their Sharingan? He never agreed to that anyway, so he wouldn’t be sure of the experience. Poor little Itachi, already seeing bloodshed after just learning to understand a conversation. Poor 8 year old Itachi, having his teammates die in front of him. Naive little Itachi, never realising that what killed them was the same man who assisted him in murdering the rest of the clan—
Hands.
Someone’s attempting to get close again.
Then—
Everything’s red
Red
Red.
Don’t touch me!
The hand phases through.
The adults in the room halt.
Because the beheaded body still holds the baby somehow, yet, the hand of his Father only phases through.
Red eyes glowed with lines curving out from the pupil slowly spinning like a wheel, fixated at everyone and everything at once.
The face of the old man is dark and deepened with an unexplainable scorn and shock.
Then he was once again Obito, but now the name holds a different meaning.
He was named Obito because his only worth is to die for the sake of his twin brother Satoru, the enlightened one.
Really setting up a good brotherhood there.
As for why they’re even saying that is beyond Obito’s understanding.
But Obito doesn’t really care.
If the day were to come where his life is needed in order for Satoru to achieve greatness, maybe he’ll just kill that boy himself to doom everyone else.
They look at him weirdly every time they stare.
They’d stare at Satoru’s eyes in wonder, then they’ll stare at his intently — even to his hair, for some reason.
Because apparently, Obito’s Sharingan won’t turn off. At the very least, it’s not in Mangekyo mode right now.
Oh, is the Sharingan part not interesting enough?
You know what? Sure. Why don’t we focus on the most confusing part?
He’s a BABY.
As in the kind that needs to be monitored 24/7. Can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t stay still on their own BABY.
Maybe he should’ve let that old man kill him.
Reborn soul? Sure, why the fuck not. Death doesn’t even want to claim his soul for everything he’s done, huh?
Then they’d even thought, hey, why not give him a twin brother while we’re at it?
And now he’s got the most annoying brother in the entire universe.
SATORU WON’T LEAVE HIM ALONE.
This ugly baby would cry when Obito is being taken away to get washed. He’d cry when either of them is taken to change diapers.
Hell, he’d cry when Obito doesn’t look at him!
Does this make sense for a baby? They’re sleeping in separate cribs! How in the world is he supposed to look at Satoru just to stop him from crying?
Itachi didn’t tell him stories about little baby Sasuke doing this. Not that he was still in the village when Sasuke was born.
Do all babies do this? Or is it just that Satoru is too stupidly special in the head?
If Satoru turns out to be Kakashi all along, oh, he’s gonna go on a killing spree again.
But there’s no way for that to happen, anyway. He’s sure Kakashi and his students will win the fight against Kaguya back then. His soul wouldn’t have passed on so peacefully.
Oh, how short-lived that was, though.
In another time, Obito wouldn’t have minded, reborn mind or not. Not at all. Maybe stupid baby Obito would’ve done the same thing Satoru is doing, if not worse. Babies forget these moments eventually, right?
Except he has his Sharingan activated, so unfortunately, he’ll remember this till he dies.
If he does finally die after this life that is.
It’s been 5 months and Obito still thinks that Satoru is such an ugly baby, no matter what the clan members who visit them say.
It’s unfair. So unfair that Obito is only able to roll on his stomach for now with much difficulty in doing it once, but Satoru is able to roll as much as he likes. Laughing his ass out.
Satoru always likes to be inside Obito’s comfort space.
They don’t sleep in separate cribs now, no. Satoru made such a huge fuss in month 3 because Obito slept for nearly the whole day at once. Only waking up when it’s time to eat and bath, and still asleep during diaper change and morning because he was just soooo tired.
His Sharingan’s been active since birth, by the way! Who wouldn’t get tired of that?
Now, Satoru wouldn’t leave him alone. Always staring at him with those creepy bright blue eyes, even when he’s sleeping.
All the more reasons to cross out the idea of Kakashi being Satoru. There’s just no way Kakashi will be this annoying, traumatised or not.
If it were 3 months ago, Obito would’ve understood. It was still snowing back then. But it’s still fuckass cold despite the very expensive heater and traditional room they’ve got.
Oh yeah, there’s that too. Obito is in another well known Clan whose kekkei genkai is both within Satoru, which is apparently a very rare thing to happen at the same time. Happens only once every 400 years, if the nosy wet maids’ gossip is to be believed.
Gojo Obito. Pfft. Even he thinks it doesn’t sound good. A name that means 5 conditions to die? He’d rather kill 5 people.
What is he even talking about?
Oh, right. Satoru being in his personal space.
It’s May now, and it’s not the best time to be cuddling and shit.
But then you’d look over Satoru and it’s like this guy has a built in Obito tracker that even in his sleep, he’d roll and roll himself trying to find Obito and cling on to him.
Satoru is such an ugly baby.
If it weren’t for the cold night managing to slip through the well insulated room, he’d have kicked Satoru away for just being ugly.
Time moves so fucking slow for a baby like Obito who has Sharingan activated all the time. The only rest being his sleep.
Closing his eyes helps too.
But then Satoru would shake him for attention because of course the fucker would know the difference of Obito being asleep and when he’s faking.
Why does Satoru even like to bother Obito so much?
He doesn’t fucking know! He was an only child!
So now he’s here by the engawa of his and Satoru’s house. Basking on the rare sunny day of Japan’s July.
They’re 7 months old and Obito can finally sit up without difficulty. But of course Satoru will always one up him and is able to crawl now.
Honestly, he looks like a dog. Beaming at Obito’s way and bringing him different kinds of toys like everything’s all sunshine and rainbows. Like there aren’t gossiping wet nurses a few steps away from them.
Like their parents never showing up once is the norm.
Would Kakashi have acted like this as a baby?
Not that Obito cares. He already prefers pretending that he doesn’t receive feeding from the wet nurses.
This clan is weird. You’d think they value Satoru so much they’d give him all the nutrients a baby would need to be strong and healthy 100%, even cozy up to him while he’s young so he’d do anything and everything they’d want. Desensitise him, if you will.
But no, none of that. None of the wet nurses even attempts to get close to any of them and attempt to form a ‘connection’. Don’t babies easily cling on to anyone maternal enough?
Speaking of clinging, there goes Satoru being an ugly baby again.
While Obito had been busy inside his mind, Satoru had crawled towards where he’s sitting and laid on his side there with his head on one of Obito’s thighs.
His blue eyes always look like there’s a universe inside there, it’s a bit unnerving.
Curious, Obito placed his chubby hand by Satoru’s cheek, looking into his eyes.
This contact made Satoru’s eyes widen, but he stayed still. He’s always like this — attentive to everything Obito would grace him with.
Obito would then pinch Satoru’s cheek.
Satoru would attempt to pinch Obito’s as well, but Obito would be quick to bring that hand to his mouth and chew.
Obito had been teething.
He hopes to forget these moments everyday.
He prays, everyday, that it’s not Kakashi underneath those unnerving blue eyes.
That would make this entire moment even more embarrassing.
For all the cursing Obito did towards his absolute dogshit of motor skills, he eventually was able to crawl fast.
Now, Obito is finally able to crawl away from Satoru’s clingy ass.
But Satoru has experience. So crawling away became a game to Satoru it seems, his happy squealing while crawling after Obito loud and proud.
That seemed like something Kakashi would be able to do— be so advanced in any skills despite his age. But he’s not this clingy.
At least that seemed like normal baby stuff.
What’s not considered baby stuff is what the twins are up to at night when there’s no wet nurse checking in on them.
Surprisingly, it was Obito who initiated what led towards everything else.
He was simply curious, that’s all.
He remembers that weird sensation he got from the old man when he was a few minutes old, just the moment he opened his Sharingan. He doesn’t remember why he ever activated it back then, but he does remember the old man’s hand phasing through him and that beheaded person holding him.
But yeah, the weird sensation. He felt it from the old man and he thinks he’s feeling the same thing from Satoru now, only it’s more… potent? More controlled compared to the old man? How does that even make sense?
Obito doesn’t know, and that’s what he wants to find out.
Obito and Satoru had been locked in a staring contest ever since the wet nurse left them in their large crib. Weird enough, one of them left the window open slightly, but Obito is too focused on Satoru to notice.
seemed to have no plan to sleep yet, Obito knew that. He’s always staring at Obito until the black-haired genuinely falls asleep. He has no idea how long that takes and when exactly after that would Satoru decide to sleep.
Obito was the first to sit up, Satoru followed after a moment. He fixed Obito with a curious tilt of his head, wondering what this is about.
Blue eyes watched as the three tomoe on those red eyes transformed to swirling thick black lines, the shape looking similar to a pinwheel.
Obito won’t be attempting Kamui, but it’s only pre-caution. He already slipped in one of their toys to their cribs earlier anyway.
He showed as much to Satoru. And as if the white-haired understood what the other was planning, his own eyes seemed to brighten a bit.
Is it a twin connection thing? Is that what’s happening right now?
Well, Obito wouldn’t want to dwell on that. This entire thing is still weird to him.
Without warning, Obito threw the small circle shaped toy block towards Satoru.
Obito believes he threw it with all the strength his baby fat could. But the circle block slowly lost momentum as it neared Satoru, ending with it hovering in thin air as if suspended.
Obito tilts his head. Does Satoru have levitation?
Blue eyes looked at the thrown toy, not surprised at the sudden attack. Instead, he looked at red eyes again and the toy flew towards Obito slowly as if careful.
The slow projectile didn't stop as it neared Obito and the dark-haired allowed it, not moving away its trajectory even if he had the time in the world.
The toy passes through Obito, blue and red locked in a staring contest. Out the corner of his eye, one of their blocks starts floating atop of black hairs, then dropping suddenly. It phases through Obito, all while none of them look away from the other.
It seems that was all Satoru needed, his expression morphing to genuine bright joy as if they finally found a game they could enjoy. His mouth opened wide in a smile as he crawled towards Obito and something in him clicked then.
Is this behaviour normal for 10 month old babies? Already able to use skills, born with it or not? What the fuck did Obito just do?
Satoru seemed unfazed, sitting up in front of his twin and pointing to himself suddenly.
What now?
Satoru was gesturing to himself. Babies can’t really talk yet, undeveloped tongue and voice box and all, so this is all they could for now.
Obito tilts his head, does Satoru want his brother to touch his cheek?
Obito drops his Mangekyo, black lines returning to just three tomoe. Making it obvious for Satoru that he’s dropped his ‘intangibility.’
But when he attempts to touch Satoru’s cheek, he feels like something’s blocking him?
His finger stopped inches away from Satoru’s face. It didn’t feel like a wall.. Just something… He kept pressing and when Satoru moved his face, Obito’s finger tried to follow but the space between remained the same. Untouchable.
He tried with his palm, and the landing of it followed the contour of Satoru’s fat cheeks.
It’s an ability Obito can’t wrap his head around.
He decided to activate his Mangekyo, attempting to see if he could phase around that weird barrier of Satoru, but just then, both of them felt an unfamiliar presence by the window.
“Grab the white one!”
Three masked men in black burst through their window, they were quick to their feet. Quick enough that one of them was already in front of the twins, bag to secure one of them held high.
He can’t have that. Why the fuck would Obito let some random ass goons get their way when he’s here?
His Kamui activated and sucked in the hands holding that bag.
Welp, there goes Obito’s night.
He glared at them, red eyes glowing in the dark.
“AAAARGH!!” the man wailed loud, staring hauntingly at his missing arms.
“What the fuck?!”
“I thought they said he’s too young to be able to use cursed techniques?!”
“Why is there even another kid—!”
Liquid blood sprayed around the room, but none touched the twins.
Blue eyes turned, glaring at the three for disturbing the twins’ playtime.
Already sensing the aura Satoru excluded, the two attempt to leave.
“Let’s go!”
“This is a fucking bust! Let’s leave him!”
But then they felt themselves unable to move, suddenly feeling a pull.
“My arm! Don’t touch my arm—!”
“Oof—!”
“What the—”
Satoru’s hand raised, pointing towards them. But it seemed before he could do anything, the door burst open and he suddenly dropped his hold over the three guys.
“Intruders! Secure the young masters!”
“Hmmp.” Satoru seemed to pout, about to display his disappointment to Obito. However, he froze upon turning to his twin.
Blood was pouring out of his left eye. Obito could feel the strain of using his Kamui prematurely — his eyes were still too weak for such usage.
Mangekyo drops, and he falls forward. The last thing he saw was Satoru’s expression turning to horror and worry.
He wakes up hours later at noon. Satoru’s head by his chest sleeping.
Obito makes a point of moving enough to wake his twin. Then, when he sees blue eyes peek through, he gives in to the exhaustion again — if only to see Satoru’s panicked and worried expression.
It makes him look funnier rather than the usual ugly ones.
Despite the whole ordeal, their parents don't ever show up.
Obito wonders if it’s in the clan’s rules that the parents can’t interact with their children up until a certain age or not at all?
Not that Obito cared.
It seemed Satoru didn’t care either. Rather, he seemed to have gotten uglier since then.
They’d play around, try to stand up and Satoru would attempt to go after Obito while they cling on to the sides of their crib. Often, the wet nurses would come when they raised their arms, they knew after a bunch of screaming that the twins wanted assistance in standing outside their playpen.
Obito thinks of it as training, if only to push the embarrassment away. He has to accept that his life as a baby will be a long one and he can’t do anything but live in the moment of it.
The wet nurses come and go. Obito’s never seen the woman who had left their window slightly opened that night since then. She might’ve been a spy.
At night, Satoru and he would throw stuff at each other as if training their abilities. Satoru is unable to keep his passive barrier active for long, and Obito takes advantage in knowing whenever it’s down. He’d howl in laughter whenever he makes sure to throw a heavy toy every time and as much as Satoru would pout, Obito thinks he has an advantage over Satoru with how he’d bask in whatever attention the red-eyed would give him.
But the same could be said to Obito. He, too, can’t hold his ability for long and it seemed Satoru figured it out. Even when Mangekyo was active, the blue-eyed twin was able to tell exactly when he could touch Obito and cover his eyes forcefully. Afraid he’d strain it again.
Obito hates it whenever Satoru acts ugly like this. He knows his own limits!
He doesn’t want to be coddled by a baby, even with how weirdly intelligent Satoru acts already.
Honestly, that part still doesn’t make sense to Obito.
Satoru acts like a weird baby.
Or is it only Obito who’s being weirded out by this? The wet nurses stopped gossiping around them since that night, so he doesn’t have a source on how a baby should act and shouldn’t anymore.
Whenever Satoru covers Obito’s eyes, he’d babble this annoying baby song from start to finish. He’d sing it six times…. SIX TIMES! All in different versions and renditions!
He’d sing a normal one, then a fast one. Then he’d slow it down, then he’d make it all jumpy. Then he’d hold every ending tone, then he’d sing it like he’s beat boxing! That’s not even all of it because he makes sure it sounds different whenever he pleases!
What song? TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR!
He’s so annoying.
God he’s so annoying.
It’s like he’s conditioning Obito not to exert his eyes so much unless he wants this to happen all the time.
Like, WHAT?
Obito already hid the keyboard toy where that shit lullaby plays, using Kamui and leaving it on that pocket dimension.
He’ll genuinely kill himself if this continues.
Their 1st birthday rolls around as the weather becomes cold.
Right. Obito does remember there being snow and cold for the first quarter of his life here.
Satoru was pouting the moment they woke up that day, glaring outside their house. Obito doesn’t know what suddenly put him in such a mood.
He seemed extra sulky too. Opting to just lay on the ground as he wrapped his arms around Obito’s waist from behind while he was just sitting down.
Satoru is at his ugliest as always.
“Satoru-sama. Obito-sama.”
Obito turned to where the wet nurses had called them. They were holding kimonos with different colours. It’s easy to tell which is whose.
He taps Satoru’s hands, signaling him to let go. But the brat dared to tighten his hold instead.
He pinches it, a last warning.
Obito would never babble unless necessary. He’d only dare to speak once he’s sure he absolutely can form a word.
When Satoru still didn't let up, he activated his Mangkyo anyway and phased through, much to his twin’s pouting.
He lets one of the wet nurses carry him, and he sees Satoru give up as he lets himself get carried as well.
All of this is because of them turning 1, isn’t it?
It’s not something he can just hide from, then.
They were bathed and clothed together. Now, why is Satoru making a fuss with the kimonos? One was white and the other was dark grey, nearly black in colour.
Satoru kept pointing at the dark kimono when the wet nurse was attempting to put the white one on him. The woman can’t even do anything about it because she can’t put the kimono with Satoru’s skill active.
After a long hour of persuading — the wet nurse in tears, pleading — they gave him the dark kimono.
“I’m gonna get killed for this!” The wet nurse cried and left, then came in a replacement seconds later.
Kakashi wouldn’t be one to act so spoiled.
Obito doesn’t really care which colour he wears. But it seems Satoru is adamant in making a statement out of it — whatever that would mean in the eyes of the old people.
Honestly, Obito is just thinking — Not that he knows a lot about head clan rules and whatnot, Itachi would know more about that than someone like Obito — But wouldn’t these moments require their parents to be the one carrying them to the ceremony rather than their wet nurse and guards only?
He remembered their Miyamairi still going through 31 days after their birth. A small affair that happened in Gojo Clan’s shrine. He just slept the whole day though, as did Satoru. But he was at least sure that their parents held them for a moment in front of the priest.
Since they can’t walk properly yet, they were put in a stroller. But of course, who is Satoru if he doesn’t whine about that too?
The moment he saw two separate strollers, he clung on to Obito like a koala, crying loudly to his ears.
It’s one of those moments that Obito knows he can’t solve by simply phasing away from. He’d bet Satoru would keep crying all the way to their destination. He’s an annoying little shit— Obito prefers it when he’s horrified and doesn’t know what to do.
Now they had to wait for one of the guards to run to the nearest mall to buy a quality twin stroller because no way is the Gojo Clan ever gonna go to other Clans to borrow one.
He makes a point in pulling both of Satoru’s cheeks while they wait, not caring if it makes Satoru look stupid on their 1st birthday. He’s fine — beaming at the attention, even.
They arrived late to the event dedicated to them, just how Obito prefers it. Huh, maybe Satoru was making a good point.
The place was uphill, despite the twins’ house being one of the closest to the main branch house.
“You’re late.”
A familiar voice echoed across the hall. It seemed that this, too, was just a small gathering.
The twins were unbuckled from their strollers, they sat in the two seats in the middle, just in front of the old man, the Head of the Gojo Clan.
Obito will never bother learning his name.
If he were to scrutinize the space Obito was given, he’d say it seemed like it was hastily added. A last minute addition placed next to Satoru’s. Word about the Six Eyes wielder’s multiple tantrums must’ve reached the old man and decided to concede.
That doesn’t sound like a good thing in Obito’s book for children.
Satoru will turn out to be a very spoiled child.
The old man stood up once the other old people settled down. Are their parents among them?
Not that Obito cares. He just thinks that Satoru will grow up worse if he doesn’t have that needed figure in his life. He’s already weird as is.
“As agreed by the majority of the Clan Elders, the erabitori ritual will not be performed on Satoru… and Obito’s first birthday.”
Oh, thank god. He was starting to worry it’d be an embarrassing Isshou Mochi too when he can’t walk without assistance yet.
“So let this feast be a celebration for their continued survival amidst all the attempts to steal the Six Eyes from the Gojo Clan. May the twins live a long, fulfilling life, and bring honor back to the Gojo Clan.”
The old man kept talking after— something about the history of Satoru’s eyes. Obito had long stopped listening when he felt a poke on his cheek.
“Ah.” Satoru made the sound of opening his mouth, holding up a spoon full of soft rice porridge.
Now, Obito has never been the son of the Clan Chief. But is it not generally appropriate to eat while the Head of the Clan is giving a speech?
The old man’s words faltered at the display, but continued on with no choice. Now, Obito can feel the eyes of the other elders on them.
What would Itachi do when put in a childish situation like this?
He’d probably correct Sasuke, because Itachi is a pacifist who follows orders and traditions to the tee.
But he is not Itachi.
Therefore, Obito takes the spoonful Satoru offered him, causing the latter to smile in joy.
Eugh. How ugly. Obito doesn’t like soups, and Satoru made it worse by looking ugly.
Obito decides to repay him, taking a spoonful from his own portion and offering it to Satoru who happily bites down, relishing the moment.
The old man’s speech stopped altogether, eyes twitching at the scene. He was not at all amused. Instead, he feels pure disrespect from this. But what can he do when one of them holds both the prized techniques of the clan they’ve waited 400 years for?
He coughs in the tensed silent air, “Let us eat, then.”
Obito decides to ignore the fact that he hates soups for that day. Satoru has had too many tantrums already, he is not about to instigate another one in that ‘celebration.’
The day ends with Obito not able to recognise which ones were their parents.
But as he keeps saying, it's not like he cares.
He just wanted to make sure there isn't any parental guilt there for birthing a prodigal son with a twin whose worth is measured for when he dies.
If there are, then they made the good job of hiding it. Not once did they send the twin longing glances, nor did they give them nannies that came from them. Obito would be able to tell the difference.
So now, Obito deems himself parentless in this timeline.
Does Satoru think the same way? Is it too early to tell if his twin is looking for parental connection?
Hmm…
Then again, so what if Satoru was searching for their parents? It’s not like Obito would be able to do anything about it. He’s just turned 1.
Red and blue is once again locked in a staring contest.
How long has it been since their first birthday? Days? Weeks?
He remembers Satoru pointing outside when the first snow drops.
It’s been a few days since then.
“Hmm…”
He hears Satoru’s voice, bringing him back to the present.
They were in their crib. It's been replaced by a much larger one — a present from the old Clan Head.
“O… bi…”
Obito’s gaze never leaves him. Satoru babbling random letters is not new. He’d go a, a, a, i, i, i, u, u, e, o. And then go rambling nonsense again.
“Bi… bi… to.”
Oh. He’s saying my name.
Satoru sees realisation in his eyes and his face brightens in the softest smile.
“Obito!”
There’s warmth in his chest.
What? What’s that?
He almost couldn’t hold Satoru’s gaze. His twin is being ugly again. No doubt he’d throw a tantrum if Obito were to look away.
But is this even normal? A 1 year old already correctly pronouncing something?
It’s just a name.
Then, would it be weirder if Obito doesn’t follow?
If Satoru could do it already, then he’d be able to do it too, right?
Why should he care anyway? Satoru just said his name.
It’s not even the way Kakashi would say it.
And for some reason, Obito finds himself happier that he’s not Kakashi.
Satoru is always so focused and stuck to Obito — of course he’d be his first word. It's not something out of this world.
It’s really not that big of a deal.
So why is he opening his mouth?
“Sa…”
A single syllable and Satoru is already sitting up, eyes widening in excitement.
Obito is feeling too focused to join him.
Sharingan is convenient in copying a skill. It copies the way the muscle would shift and how it works, making it easy for users to instinctively know what to adjust for a perfect copy.
Talking is a skill.
“Sa… toru”
That night, Satoru engulfed Obito in a tight embrace, refusing to let go.
It’s one of those things about Satoru that Obito learns he’ll have to live with.