Blonding

Chapter 47 : Uchiha Obito

"You're early."

It wasn't so much a statement as it was a sign of strength - a power play. Naruto was all too familiar with that game. "No, I'd say I'm right on time. All that mattered is that you'd show, and you have."

He turned down the aisles of gravestones and watched as a cloaked figure did the same from across the cemetery, mirroring his actions as he moved. The winds twisted the long, spindly clouds in the sky around the moon above them, blotting out the light and casting dark shadows over the dusk-embalmed village.

"Well," Obito drawled, pausing and threading his hands over one another across his chest, "for what purpose have you dragged me out here? Have you not humiliated me enough?"

"Drop the act, Obito," Naruto said with a snort, shaking his head. "We both know you're out of options. It was like this in my world, too."

The boy said nothing for a moment. "Your... world?"

"My world," Naruto repeated. "I'm from the future, Obito. Well..." he frowned, staring at the ground, "one of them. It's easier for me to understand if I think of myself as being in the past, rather than being from the future." He gave a tentative smile, and sighed. "Well, I suppose it all depends on perspective."

"Don't play games with me," Obito said, his fist clenching into a ball at his side.

"Your name is Obito Uchiha," Naruto began, voice even and emotionless. "You were 'killed' at the battle of Kannabi Bridge several years ago when a collapsed cave crushed you. You gave one of your eyes to Kakashi Hatake, your teammate, and then you died."

He shook his head. "Except you didn't. You lived by some stroke of luck, and ended up in Madara Uchiha's care. He helped you heal, helped you rebuild you strength." He paused, and Obito fidgeted. "And then he tricked you."

"Stop," Obito growled. The wind whistled between the graves, cracking tree branches against one another and howling like a wounded dog.

"What is it you want, Obito?" Naruto said over the wind. "A world of lies? A world of fake promises, and fake happiness?"

"I want her!" Obito shouted, and a crack of lightning cascaded across the sky.

"Grow up!" Naruto said. "This isn't a game, Obito!"

"Why not?" Obito said. "Why can't it be a game?"

"Because you aren't the only person on this planet, Obito," Naruto said, taking a deep breath, moving a step forward. "Listen to me. I've seen it. It's happened in my world, and as enticing as it may be at first glance, it's nothing but a sham." He shook his head, and bit his lip. "Madara is being manipulated, Obito. And I don't want you - at least, the you of this world, to fall for the same traps."

The masked boy clenched his fist again, then hissed, falling to his knees with a pained gasp.

"That's it?" he bit out. "That's all you plan to do? To talk me out of it?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, completely serious. "That's it. It worked before." He took a few more steps until he was standing over Obito's crouched form, and knelt down on a knee in front of him. He reached out and touched his shoulder. "You're still hurt? Let me-"