Hope Flies on Wind-bent Wings

times like these

Obito followed the long threads that connected the contracts to the other dimension.

There were still two. That alone was a huge relief. But they were in separate locations. Jiraiya and Naruto were still constantly on the move, it seemed. Obito hesitated for a moment within the in-between space, then turned his attention to the travelers out somewhere within the Land of Fire. His heart leapt when he hovered between the borders and saw it come into view.

They were camping in a heavily wooded area. Hanging out high above, Obito didn't see any other people nearby. He spotted Jiraiya sitting on a boulder away from camp, meditating.

There was a small, new fire flickering in the clearing they'd made. Naruto sat in front of the fire wrapped in a blanket. He was dozing lightly, head slumped over to one side.

Obito appeared behind a tree and braced his hands against the cold bark, nearly winded. It wouldn't have seemed real, if not for the chilly morning air, the smell of the fire, the weight of his own limbs as he took a few steps forward.

He stepped on a twig and Naruto raised his head at the sound. His eyes widened when he realized who he was seeing. Naruto stood abruptly, his expression pure bewilderment. "Obito?"

Breath caught sharply in Obito's throat. He took the last few strides quickly and hugged Naruto, the momentum pushing him a half step back. Naruto made a surprised sound. After a second, he crossed his arms over Obito's shoulders, draping them both in the blanket.

He was warm and solid. Real.

"Hey, are you okay? W-What the hell happened? It's been—we thought you might've been—"

"I'm sorry." Obito's voice cracked. He pressed his face into the blanket against the rising tears. "I didn't mean to disappear. There was an attack, and I lost the book, and—I knew you were probably worried to death, but everyone's okay. Everybody is okay. The war's over."

"I'm not dreaming, right?" Naruto sounded dazed.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Jiraiya said lightly from behind them.

Obito pulled away from Naruto and turned around, dragging his sleeve hurriedly across his face.

"We were worried about you, kiddo. Why don't you sit down and catch us up on what's been going on?"

Obito lowered his arm and nodded once. He sat on the log in front of the fire, and Naruto sat down beside him.

He detailed the basics of what happened to them, from the book's loss to the end of the war. He skated over some of the finer details, like how recklessly he'd acted when he first realized the book was missing—he didn't feel like getting lectured by Jiraiya just then.

But there was one thing he couldn't skip over however much he wanted to: Tobi's involvement. By the time Obito finished telling the story, they were both staring at him in disbelief.

"Minato can't be serious!" Jiraiya palmed his forehead. "There's a reason we decided to keep him locked up. No offense, but your older self managed to con a bunch of smart and dangerous people into doing what he wanted. He's too slippery to let roam free. What if it's all an act?"

"I don't know," Obito said, staring at the fire. "It can't all be an act. There was a moment when older-Naruto was busy, Rin and Kakashi were down, and Minato-sensei was still far behind. I couldn't move. He could have easily taken my eyes and gotten away with it. With his healing ability, he could have left the world before Minato-sensei had time to show up. But instead, he gave sensei a jump point and turned himself in."