the tobito au makes me kind of extremely emotional. its just. naruto is a world where everything is ruled by the cycle of violence and most titular and important characters are bitter jaded and mean, and have to be to survive. thats why naruto [character] is so revolutionary, because hes one of the only ones with the capacity to reach out to people and radically shake their worldview by spinning the dog-eat-dog world on its head. people do not have to kill and kill and only win by killing better. they can have emotions. they can have bonds. they can connect with others. love and friendship is revolutionary because it goes against everything the world is built on. (we are breaking the cycle of violence !!!!)
and tobi. does that. in his own way. he has become warped and twisted to survive but hes done it in the exact opposite way of most--hes rejected being a ninja. and by rejecting being a ninja, hes ALSO rejected that endless cycle of hatred and bitterness and cynicism and apathy. he has reconnected with his emotions and his humanity. and isnt it so fitting ?? isnt it so poetic?? that in order to save his life he had to reclaim what he has never indulged--his own capacity for love, and sorrow, and joy?? and its like. my god. my GOD. what if the world were capable of love. what if we could rebuild what has been lost, find new happiness, create new meaning. what if we could teach our lost brother to love himself. that its not his fault for being born. that he has the right to be alive. and isnt that what its all about. fuck, man.
Thank you. I love that you see it this way. It's lovely. I do have to say that I've joked sometimes about how Tobito has fix-it fic'd everybody's lives but his own. And, uh, Minato and Kakashi's, whose lives got insanely worse. Rin, uh, would say that Tobito fix-it fic'd her life.
Obito doesn't view it this way, but Tobi was kind of a rage-quit of his own life. In a lot of ways, it was a suicide. He's been a soldier since he was 4 (naruto childcare go crazy) and he's killed a shitton of people by 14. Konoha was squeezing him dry, and the Mangekyo/Mokuton meant that they would have used him for all he was worth before harvesting his body. It was from a desperate fear for his own life, but you can distinctly see the 'fuck you'. The point of Tobi is that he's useless. He'll never give Konoha anything ever again. He's retired, he's going to spend the rest of his days living off his stupid wealth, and he is going to take slow and grating revenge on Konoha by being as unpleasant as physically possible. Fuck you, live with the monster you created. Fuck you, that ghost's going to haunt you. Fuck you, choke on me.
But only somebody who HARD QUITS being a ninja can be somebody who loves freely. Only that useless monster, cruel ghost, and mental child can express affection, have real friends, and love others. The Tobi persona is innocent, trusting, sincere, and sweet [to people who he hasn't decided to make miserable for funsies]. He's kind of outside of the Konoha society, which means that he's outside of its obligatory cruelty. He can be openly affectionate to the Uchiha kids, he can ground Sasuke in genuine family ties, and he can take in Naruto, in a way that nobody else can. He doesn't know anything about politics, grudges, or histories - he treats everybody equally, on face value - which means that he can foster connections between the Konoha 12 that nobody else can. He rebuilds community between the jouin-senseis. The ninja world is so backstabby and cruel, and in a weird way Tobi is the only person who you can trust. lmfao.
This is why Rin and Kakashi stay pretty obsessed with him. He's Pure TM. They're incredibly super fucked up by life and their horrible situations, but Tobi has stayed innocent and safe at home.
This both sucks and is really funny, because Obito is so full of hate. He is like 70% rage and 30% love for his family. He's just not terrible because he's not bogged down by the Make Everybody Terrible Ninja Society. He honestly just cares about keeping the Konoha 12 safe and the happiness of his family and team. The list of people he hates is extensive. He's disapointed that Itachi didn't come to him first, because he had a lot of ideas.
I forget if this is posted, but at some point Tsunade tells Tobito that he is the only jounin-sensei who can teach the Konoha 12 how to be people. This is because he's useless. Because he's not a ninja, and ninja aren't people. Which is ironic too, and has its own issues, since through The Power of Ableism Tobi is dehumanized a lot.
I think Tobi wasn't a ninja, so he could be a person. But a ghost and monster can't really be a person either. Obito discovering how to be a person is really only found through his connections with Sasuke and Team 7, and eventually the Konoha 12.
Rin thinks she understands all of this, and she REALLY doesn't. Team Minato will have to make their own reconcilations with this. I do think literally only Naruto understands what you're talking about, because he is ninja jesus preaching peace and love. He's not wrong, but he always feels wrong. Thanks for reading!!
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