Chapter 1
Obito paced back and forth like a caged animal. Though, the longer he was in there, the more he felt like one. Trapped. Trapped. Trapped. He had to stop and take a couple of deep breaths. They came out more like pants. He squeezed his eye shut, trying to fight down the nausea building in the back of his throat. He hears someone shift, and his eye opens to find the Third Hokage standing there outside his cell.
Obito glared at him.
He had been trying to get information from him for—- days? A week or two? Obito had no idea. There were no windows, no way to tell the passage of time besides the food they tried bringing him.
Obito never ate it.
He couldn’t eat it.
Even just looking at it would make him feel sick.
No doubt the old man was back to try again. To try to get him to talk. To say anything. He didn’t know why they didn’t just use a Yamanaka to poke around in his brain a bit. It would be a simple solution.
Then again, he bit the last person to get too close to him.
The Third stares at him, a mixture of emotions in his eyes, and Obito glared at him, both of them unwavering. Finally, the old man gives a sigh. It was obvious he wasn’t going to speak to him. Even still, it had been almost three years since Obito had died, and yet, here he was, standing in front of him. His hair was longer, wild, just as the look in his eye. Hiruzen had been trying to figure out where he had been, what had happened——
Why he had attacked Konoha.
He remembered when the boy was younger, bright eyed and optimistic and determined to always do his best. The complete opposite of who stood there now. Kakashi had been trying to get him to let him try talking to him, but Hiruzen felt that wasn’t a good idea. The boy had gotten a hold of Kyuubi, had attacked Konoha, had almost killed Minato—- the Hokage! An offense that should put him to death. It was only Hiruzen’s kindness and curiosity that kept him alive. It was unfortunate Kushina hadn’t made it, and Minato had been crushed by the loss of his wife.
And Obito stood there, gaze hard, feeling no remorse.
“Obito….” His voice was soft, though firm. “If you can help me, perhaps we can help you.”
Obito’s hands are clenched into fists, knuckles white. He truly did look like a caged animal. Trapped. His breathing is hard, teeth bared. He wasn’t going to speak to him. Trapped. It was a feat he had even been captured. Hiruzen wasn’t even completely sure how it had happened. Trapped.
They simply stare at each other, silence stretching out between them. Obito knew Hiruzen was trying to show sympathy, empathy, that he surely didn’t actually feel. The boy, on the other hand—- anger blanketed him. Wrapped itself around him and had long made its home in his heart, in his soul. At first, it had felt heavy. Hot. A burning within him that would surely consume him, like a fire with kindle. A wildfire, destroying everything in its path, not caring who fell within its path. He had become numb to the heat by now, though. No, it was a familiarity. Settled in his very being and fueling him instead of burning him.
Hiruzen gave another sigh, and Obito had to fight to roll his eye at the sound. It was annoying. The same song and dance as always, but it took two, and Obito refused to be a willing partner. He was tense, guarded. Looking almost like a deadly cat ready to pounce on its prey at any moment. Eventually, the old man would leave again, and Obito would most likely go back to his pacing.
That was how he mostly spent his time at this point. Every part of him itched. Energy thrummed within him and no matter how much he moved, it wasn’t enough. He knew exactly what it was, though. Part of it was being in his stupid cell, underground. The stone walls seemed to close in on him sometimes. They were mocking him, he was sure of it. Why else would they– of all places– lock him in here? And then expect him to be compliant? Disgusting.
The other part—-- even with his chakra sealed, it stirred within him. No, not his chakra. That chakra, that he couldn’t quite control. It was usually fine. He kept it quiet and shoved down, letting it slip every now and then, to placate it, until it eventually got too restless, and he had to let it out. It was like a creature of its own inside him, hungry and restless. It was incompatible with his own, the exact opposite of his chakra nature, and so, he was still working to wrestle it under control.
Especially because he hadn’t ever asked for it. Thrust upon him, molded to his body, his very being, now internally fighting. He sometimes felt like he was going to be torn in half. Like it all was going to pull him apart, limb from limb. His arm, his leg, not his own. Almost alien in nature.
It made him itch.
“The only way you can help me, is by letting me out.” He finally spoke for the first time since he had been in there.
There was no response to that. Obito hadn’t really expected one anyways. But it didn’t make any difference. He just had to figure a way out, and then, his plans would be back on track. And none of this would matter. He would have her back, no matter what.
He wouldn’t be alone again.
The Hokage finally leaves, and Obito gives a quiet huff. That energy inside of him was getting restless. Curling and snaking and almost suffocating him. His hands clench and unclench, fingers flexing. He has to force himself to take a couple of deep breaths. Actual deep breaths. He’s able to push it back down, smother it and bury it. He doesn’t know how long that will last, though. Even with the cell stifling his chakra, he felt it was only a matter of time. Either it would be released, or it would tear him apart.
He takes one more very deep breath, slowly releasing it. He just needed to bide his time.