"I promise."
Minato continued to glare as Tobi sighed once more.
"Alright, let's get straight to the point." Tobi put a hand to his fox mask and pulled.
Minato's eyes widened even more when Tobi revealed his face to him.
Deep scar lines littered the entire right side of his face as he looked down at Minato almost menacingly.
The dark shadows of his face made his Sharingan shine even brighter as it spun.
Minato couldn't look away from his face as it somehow reminded him of someone.
"So," Tobi started, picking at a white strand of his hair, "How do I look? Cool? Creepy? What?"
Minato's eyes were wide as he examined the rogue's face. He had white, spiky hair, crooked features with one eye closed, and the Sharingan...
Minato scrunched his face at the resemblance of the man.
You look a lot like-
"Obito, right? I look a lot like him, don't I."
Tobi smirked when Minato's expression changed to surprise.
"How do you-"
"Okay, that's what I brought you here for." Tobi confirmed, nodding with a closed eye.
Minato frowned as he attempted to make a Rasengan, only for it to pop as soon as it was starting to spin the wind around to create it.
He gritted his teeth as the wood wrapped around him tighter.
"I will make a confession." Tobi started once they made eye contact again. He wasn't sure if Minato even took into consideration that he can quite literally put him in a genjutsu right then and there if he continued to look into Tobi's Sharingan eye.
Minato didn't respond, only continued to glare as his cerulean eyes darkened considerably bit by bit while looking up at the Uchiha.
"...I know you probably won't believe me, that much I'm sure of, but..." Tobi sighed, calming himself as he deactivated his Sharingan and looked at Minato directly in the eye.
"I... am Obito Uchiha from the future."
Minato's jaw dropped.
"Wh...what!?" he basically screeched in shock as his eyes widened even more.
Tobi scratched the back of his head. "Let me explain, got it?" he sighed out through his nose as he looked back down at Minato after momentarily looking away.
Minato had lines on his face as his brows were knitted together tightly. Tobi would admit that he also saw sweat coat the Hokage's current unpleasant expression.
"H-how- so you're telling me that the Obito Uchiha that wants to become Hokage, is YOU!?" Minato was at the peak of disbelief.
Tobi sighed again, closing his eye.
Minato shook his head in more disbelief of what was just admitted to him.
"...impossible... all these years... I do not believe it...! Obito, my student, is not you... he is not you! How would my brightest student turn into someone like... like you!?"
Tobi shook his head as Minato continued to list reasons as to how his student Obito Uchiha could ever become 'someone' like Tobi.
Tobi stomped his foot in the ground, effectively redirecting the blonde's attention.
"Exactly, just, how did you come to the conclusion that I'm a bad person?"
Minato paused.
His mouth opened slightly as if to convey the reason, yet it shut itself tightly again without words coming through.
He looked down, as if a realization came setting in.
"You attacked me first. Remember? Eight years ago, on top of the trees? I never did anything wrong. I never hurt anyone. I only fought with you because I was forced into that situation."
Minato's eyes widened---"We should let him train with us!"
Kakashi immediately shut down the Uchiha's idea. "We don't bring strangers into our training, dimwit."
"I'll consider it." Minato smiled as Obito pumped his fist in the air.
'Damn hypocrite...'---Minato knew there was no denying the fact that Tobi didn't willingly fight with him that day.
He looked up at Tobi, face devoid of any expression. Tobi had an expression of 'I told you so'.
"See? If my past self didn't offer that, and if you didn't say you would consider it, you would've known far earlier that it was you that started it all, not me, the supposed rogue."
Minato was speechless.
"And if you're wondering... yes. I am Obito Uchiha from the future, like I said before."
"Then how..." the Namikaze gulped, looking down to shadow his eyes. "how do you have that scar?"
At that Tobi grabbed the Hokage's jaw and lifted his head up forcefully.
Minato tried to pry his head away from the grip but it was tighter than any human force.
His eyes, once again, were completely taken over by the Sharingan and he stayed like that for a few seconds, until-
"What..."
Minato looked confused and angry at the same time.
"Now you see." the Hokage looked at Tobi as the wood slowly dispersed from its previously tight grip on the blonde's body.
Minato stayed still, however, unmoving except for the the twitch in his fingers.
"I... I..."
"I just wanted to tell you. Ya' know, because I'll be erasing my existence from your memories." Tobi casually shrugged his shoulders as Minato tensed around those words.
He quickly stood up as Tobi-no, Obito, was preparing to erase his memories.
"Is that-was that all true!? The things you showed me-all of them!? To you meeting Madara, to Rin's death, to your hatred for Kakashi-"
Obito just smiled.
He walked towards Minato as the Hokage seemed to realize another thing.
"...to you unleashing the nine-tails during the birth of Naruto...?" Minato felt like crying as Obito put a hand to his shoulder reassuringly.
One of his precious students, Obito... ending up killing him and Kushina and dying lonely in the end...?
"Obito... you've been through all that and all I did was..."
"I know, I know." Obito smiled sadly as Minato looked down, eyes glacy as he recollected what Obito made him see.
Obito patted his former teacher's shoulder one last time before making eye contact with his Sharingan.
Minato just stayed still as he accepted that his memories of 'Tobi' were going to be erased.
Soon enough, Minato's body went limp as Obito simply glanced at the Hokage's closed eyes one last time before swirling him back to his office.
I'm sorry. I had to. But don't ever forget that I still respect you...
...Minato-sensei.
-----
Minato awoke, sat on his desk with his head lying on multiple scattered work papers.
He sighed as he remembered that he had an outing with Kushina after his daytime Hokage duties.
He sighed as he continued his work.
All of a sudden, he felt as if the room temperature was increasing.
What the...?
He wiped his forehead and he was, indeed, sweating.
Huh... I don't remember the room being so hot...
He shrugged as he continued on with the papers.
Pretty sure I slept through a meeting.