A series of letters to Obito

[sekihan]

The following letters were sent from various towns and arrived at various times, not necessarily in order.

Comments

May 22nd, morning

[thebestuchiha]

[He'd gotten the letters, illegible and waterlogged and torn as some ended up by the time they made it to him, and he'd kept them in a neat collection, sealed away in a piece of paper in one of his desk drawers. On receiving an unfamiliar symbol on his scroll and getting a new missive from her that way, he'd taken them all back out and reviewed them, doing his best to line them up in chronological order by dating.

He made sure the security on his response was as private as possible on his reply without being above her possibility of being able to open it.]

Ashiko,

One thing you never needed to do for writing me, at any time, personal or not over the years, has been apologize. You sent me apologies many times in your letters over the last months, and the only real reason to apologize for any of them is in leaving me no way to reply to you when when seemed to need someone to speak to.

All the same, I'm relieved that you've found some sort of peace in those months, and have come to a decision on the matter that is plaguing you. I hope, that in the future, you do not so dramatically fall out of contact with me.

I can also honestly say that I am relieved to finally know what, exactly, your connection to Orochimaru is through parsing your prior letters with your question. The information would be invaluable, especially in light of the situation breaking out across the continent, though I must ask what you would need of me for this to come to pass.

You never struck me as a woman who needed much in the way of money, after all.

Uchiha Obito

[sekihan]

Dear Obito-sama,

I am afraid that is one thing I cannot bring myself to apologize for, ironically enough. I needed a certain feeling of isolation, these past few months. This was not a decision I could afford to let anybody other than myself make. Perhaps I did wish for a more communicative confidant, at times, but given that I was not sure which path I would choose it seemed... sly, to invite you into an intimate correspondence.

I would say that I am naught but a maid, but that would be along the lines of you describing yourself as a mere mercenary. I am highly skilled, not to put too fine a point on the matter. Surely not as impressive as any of your shinobi, but a Kuzuryu is bred for excellence.

You are correct. Money isn't much more than metal and paper to me. But my home... My home is priceless to me, Obito-sama. The Land of Ice, I suspect, will be going through another bout of political upheaval very soon. Perhaps it has already started; I have isolated myself from that as well these past few months. You have to understand, Obito-sama, once I give you what I know, I must give it in its entirety. The second I do so, I will become a target for elimination.

Orochimaru-sama and his own are very good at elimination.

So, before I commit to any such peril, I need to know: is Orochimaru-sama, his current affiliation, and his last semi-permanent base of operations that I know of worth your political support of the future regime of Ice?

Sincerely,

Kuzuryu Ashiko

[thebestuchiha]

Ashiko,

You have no need to fear for those of Ice from myself, and may even take some comfort in knowing you are not the first that as made contact with me on the matter of that country in some way over the last months.

Simply put, yes, much as my political support can be spared in the coming chaos, Ice will have it.

Please know that while I wish I could promise such a thing unfettered, I cannot, and must first obtain the information before making any guarantees as to how such support will be handled.

I will, of course, need to know if the person who approached me is the same that you expect will step up, however, or this might quickly grow complicated.

Uchiha Obito