status ongoing
prompt greatly inspired by Sanzo-Sinclaire's Naruto fanart on deviantart
background ten years after the Kannabi Bridge mission, AU from that
notice Hola! I've wanted to write something about Obito for so long. I have most of the outline for this story written down, but I just wanted to publish the first chapter to check the response. I've read quite some Team Minato!AUs in the past few weeks and I'm kinda hooked on the concept. Plus, Kakashi deserves to be happy, which is one of my side-objectives in this story. However, my main focus will be Obito and Rin. Let me know what you think!
CHAPTER ONE
"You alright, sport?"
"It hurts."
"You're not gonna throw up in my hair or something, are you?"
"'M not sure…"
"Maybe you shouldn't eat so much. You're still a kid, y' know?"
"But I'm gonna be the Hokage! I gotta eat lots and lots of ramen to get big and—ow."
Obito laughed as he hoisted the five-year-old further up his back, trying not to jostle him too much, and continued on his path towards the Namikaze household. He didn't know how he always got roped in babysitting Naruto, but it wasn't like he could have said no when Minato-sensei appeared on his doorstep that morning looking very distressed, with Naruto tugging restlessly at his Hokage haori.
Thus, Obito had to spend the day with his sensei's son, which of course involved a trip to Ichiraku.
Naruto had a rather large appetite for a five-year-old, which came as no surprise considering who his parents were — especially his mother — and the fact that the boy was as hyperactive as they came. The amount of food that was usually to be found in the Namikaze household was extraordinary.
The kid ate like a baby dinosaur. Sometimes Obito thought that he didn't even chew before he swallowed. He inhaled his food, especially when it was ramen. Obito found it really amusing to watch him eat as many bowls as he could handle before he began complaining about tummy aches.
Which was exactly the case this time.
The little hellion had managed to dig through seven bowls of Ichiraku ramen before his stomach gave out on him. As a result, Obito had to carry his sensei's son back to his house, lest he wanted to face Kushina's wrath for leaving her son unattended in his time of need.
Which he evoked nevertheless, because the moment the duo stepped foot inside the Namikaze household and Kushina saw the slumped form of her son on Obito's back, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero smacked him upside the head, while retrieving Naruto.
"What the hell did you do this time, huh?"
Obito frowned, rubbing the sore spot where she had hit him. That woman had one hell of a left hook. "It's not my fault he wanted to eat seven bowls of ramen."
"And you're supposed to be an adult. If he wants to eat that much, you stop him, not buy him another round!"
"As if I can stop him! He's your son."
"Mama…"
Both shinobi turned automatically to the five-year-old nestled in Kushina's arms. It was no secret that Obito's coddling rivaled Kushina's, and there had been a few instances where he had been called mama from Naruto as well — and Kakashi never let Obito live those instances down. So, it wasn't that much of a surprise when Obito responded to Naruto's wailing as readily as his mother did. He was his favorite nephew, after all.
Naruto rubbed his belly while grimacing in pain. "'M tummy hurts."
"Poor thing," Kushina cooed, rocking him against her hip. "Mama's gonna make it all better now."
Obito watched with a sour expression as Kushina prepared her special herbal infusion that she proclaimed would cure everything from a stomach ache to a broken heart. He had been on the receiving end of that particular brew more times than he would like to admit, and it had tasted like death every single time.
It was no wonder Minato-sensei was married to her; he was probably the only one who actually enjoyed the poison.
He saw Naruto pout when his mom placed the steaming mug in front of him and ordered him to drink all of it. When Kushina turned to Obito, the boy made a very good impression of vomiting behind her back.
"So, apart from trying to give my son an ulcer, what have you been up to?" Kushina asked, earning a pout from Obito.
"Well, since it's been my first day off in a long time, I honestly just wanted to stay home and die."
"Sorry we ruined your fancy plans, then," she said, but her tone was unapologetic as always. "All of it, Naruto."
"Tastes bad," the boy grumbled, but under his mother's stern gaze, he obeyed.
"It's okay," Obito said, too amused by the scene in front of him. "I haven't seen Naru-chan in a while, so."
"Are you staying for dinner?"
Obito shook his head. "Nah, I promised Rin I'd pick her up from the hospital. She was pretty mad when I ran into her when I came back last night. Said it's been too long since we had a proper meal together. I think her right hook has improved; my arm still hurts."
Kushina laughed. "She's right about that, you know. Ever since you and Kakashi got into ANBU, we hardly ever see you anymore."
"You'd think you would have gotten used to that after six years."
"Well, I'm not. And neither is Rin. I know that she's busy in the hospital, but when we get together and there are two empty seats on the table, things get really depressing."
Obito sighed. "You know that's not my fault, right?"
"Do you think I'm not giving Minato hell for that?" Kushina said. "But apparently, you two are his 'most valuable shinobi' and your track record is impeccable, which is why he can't help but trust you with all his top missions."
Obito grinned at the indirect compliment. Minato-sensei never held back his praise, especially when it was well-earned, but hearing Kushina relay it somehow gave the gesture even more gravitas. Ever since Rin had been captured during the war, and he and Kakashi had almost gotten there too late to save her from the Iwa shinobi, he had thrown himself into intense training. One brush with death had been enough; he was not planning to die anytime soon, which was why he had made it his goal to become one of Konoha's strongest shinobi.
He had been surprised with how easy it had been to rise through the ranks once he dedicated himself to it. Although he liked to say that it was solely his determination and hard work that got him where he was today, Obito knew that he owed a lot to the Uchiha potential that he apparently didn't lack. The clan still perceived him as an imbecile who talked louder than was appropriate and made a fool of his name, but he had stopped caring about the old geezers a long time ago. At least being in ANBU and working close to the Hokage had managed to get him away from their hungry claws. He had no desire to work in the Police Force; a black sheep amongst wolves was still a sheep, after all.
He was broken out of his thoughts when Kushina snapped her fingers in his face.
"Earth to Obito — are you listening to me?"
"Eh, sorry," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Got lost in thought. What were you saying?"
Kushina shook her head. "You're just as bad as Naruto, I swear. It's like he can't keep his attention on something for more than three minutes."
The boy in question pouted at that, but he kept drinking his tea in quiet, making disgusted faces with every gulp.
It was fun to see such a hyperactive boy being so complacent in front of his mother. Although, Obito had to hand it to Naruto, Kushina was downright scary when she wanted to be.
"Anyway, I asked you if Kakashi is back yet."
"Nope," he said, getting up from his seat. "Which is why I'm gonna go and enjoy my personal space for as long as I can. See you later, okay?"
"I swear, you two are like an old married couple," Kushina said with a smirk. "Don't be a stranger, huh!"
"Promise!" Obito winked. "See ya, sport," he said, ruffling Naruto's hair on his way out.
"Bye, Obi!"
Kushina took a seat next to Naruto and glanced at the now empty mug in front of him. "See, it wasn't that bad."
Naruto managed to mask his discomfort for precisely six seconds, before he emptied his stomach on the kitchen table.
Obito wore a satisfied grin as he walked through the streets of Konoha. The village was always lively during this time of the year. The Tanabata Festival was coming up in a few weeks, and everyone was already preparing for it. The village was gradually being decorated with colorful strips of paper or fabric hanging from trees, windows, lanterns and so on. It was one of Obito's favorite times of the year.
It had been a while since he had some time off. Lately, he had found himself barely finishing one assignment before being sucked into another. He had deduced that the more seasoned an ANBU member you were, the more workload was dumped on you. And it certainly didn't help his case when his team had one of the highest efficiency rates in the whole organization.
Team Ro — he trusted them almost as much as he trusted Team Minato. It helped that its captain was none other than Kakashi. After they had decided to put aside their differences and work together during the war, their relationship had changed radically. Kakashi now treated him as an equal, and not as the crybaby ninja that he used to be. Their close partnership inspired respect to the two remaining members of their team — Yugao Uzuki and Tenzou.
Although younger than him and Kakashi by a few years, the two of them were as fierce and efficient as any other ANBU member. Tenzou, however burdened with a grim past in the hands of Orochimaru, was a kind-hearted young man who possessed the First Hokage's Mokuton. After Kakashi had managed to pry him out of Danzou's claws and pull him out of ROOT, Tenzou had quickly found his spot in their team. The man worshipped Kakashi like a god, and Obito loved to tease his best friend about it.
Yugao, on the other hand, was a kenjutsu specialist with a sharp strategic mind. She never disobeyed orders and she was as headstrong as they came. It didn't hurt that she wasn't hard on the eyes, either.
They were both very serious about their work, and their teamwork was flawless. It was no wonder that Team Ro was one of the elite units in ANBU.
However, the true star of their team was Kakashi himself. Kakashi had evolved a lot after the Kannabi Bridge mission. Once he had finally decided to get the stick out of his ass, Obito found that he wasn't that much of an asshole, after all. Pushing Kakashi out of the way of an avalanche of rocks and almost dying in the process had finally shaken the Hatake prodigy out of his cold-hearted demeanor.
Obito had been gravely injured in that cave, and if it wasn't for Minato-sensei, he was certain that he would have died that day. But, as per usual, the Yellow Flash had arrived just in time to save his student from being crushed by a giant boulder.
The raised skin marring the right side of Obito's face served to remind all of them of how close they had come to death that day. It had been a huge wake-up call for Kakashi.
Shortly after they had all returned home from the war, the two boys had moved in together. Obito was aching to get away from his clan, which was starting to take a sudden interest in him after he awakened the Sharingan, and Kakashi claimed that it was time for him to move back into his family's home. Seeing that it was too big for just one person, he had invited Obito to move in with him.
At the time, Obito hadn't given it much thought — if Kakashi was giving him a way out of the Uchiha compound, hell yeah he was going to take it. It was only later that he realized that Kakashi was feeling guilty about being the reason Obito had almost died in that cave.
It took him even longer to realize that Kakashi didn't want to be left alone with his ghosts anymore.
The Hatake home was not very flashy in itself. The Hatake had never been a huge clan, reduced to one family over the years, and ultimately to only one person. Thus, there was never a need for a manor. It was a small house near the stadium, with a living room, two bedrooms, a large kitchen and a courtyard in the back. It had nothing on the imposing dwellings in the Uchiha compound, but it was more than Obito could ask for — it was home.
Not that living with Kakashi had been easy, by any chance. Although the two boys had reconciled after the war, their friendship had been rocky at best. Kakashi was a stubborn bastard, and Obito was no better himself. He was disorganized and untidy whereas Kakashi was orderly — and borderline obsessive. Obito was clumsy and loud, Kakashi was quiet and angry. Their personalities clashed as frequently as their kunai did, but underneath all the fighting and the grumpiness, they had somehow managed to form a bond akin to brotherhood. Working together to refurbish the Hatake residence had done a lot to strengthen the bond between them. At the end of three very long months, they had moved in, and things had been going (almost) smoothly ever since.
Becoming partners in ANBU had helped as well. Kakashi was very distrusting, and so Minato-sensei had thought it would be best to group them together, at least for the first few months. Those months had turned into a lifelong commitment it seemed, and now they were not only living together but also working together on a daily basis.
Maybe people were partially right to call them an old married couple. They certainly bickered like one, on the field and away from it.
Despite that, things had started to change a few years back, when Kakashi found himself in a relationship with none other than Konoha's resident 'scary snake lady', as Naruto liked to call her — Mitarashi Anko.
It would be an understatement to say that Anko and Kakashi's relationship put a damper on his fine life.
Kakashi had always been an enigma as an individual. For as long as Obito could remember, he could never fully understand Kakashi. Although he was more approachable since the Kannabi Bridge mission, the way his mind worked was still a mystery. He had gone from being an uptight jerk who didn't think anyone worthy of his time, to a lazy prick whose tardiness rivalled Obito's, who read dirty novels in public and had a dark sense of humor.
Minato-sensei had been positively scandalized the first time he had seen one of his own teacher's erotic novels in the hands of Konoha's golden boy. He had snatched the offending material out of a very amused Kakashi's hands and promptly reduced it to ashes with a quick fire jutsu.
Obito, on the other hand, believed that this was Kakashi's true nature, and he was only now feeling comfortable enough to reveal it to the world. After the war, most of the shinobi of their generation had climbed through the ranks and emerged as respectful veterans. They had pulled through the bloodiest war in the history of the shinobi world and they had survived; they were messed up, broken and scarred, but they were alive. The world had no more expectations of them.
This new kind of freedom assisted in the development of what Obito liked to call the new Kakashi. The superior attitude had been replaced with cunning comments; the stiff demeanor with dirty jokes. Kakashi was almost human these days.
Of course, this change in attitude would inevitably bring about a change in latitude as well. Apparently the inappropriate jokes and sly comments were a façade for an even dirtier mind. Said mind had thrived when it came in contact with Anko.
Obito wasn't sure about the exact time Kakashi and Anko started their relationship, but he assumed that it was around the time Kakashi had picked up a particular interest in sealing. The seal on Anko's cursed mark — a gift from her former mentor, Orochimaru — was one of Kushina's own, an Uzumaki clan special. Kakashi had been interested in studying the secrets of the Uzumaki sealing techniques, and Anko was a live representation of one. Between study sessions and late nights at the Academy, Obito assumed that they had found some time to hook up.
At first, Obito had been more amused than scandalized. He was happy for his friend — after all, Kakashi was decidedly not a stable individual; it was a wonder that he had managed to find a person to even consider entering a relationship with him. Besides, Kakashi having a romantic relationship with someone meant that he would be out of Obito's hair more often than not.
However, Obito hadn't counted on Anko being as nosy as they came, and with an uncanny ability to get under his skin to boot. Over the years, he had put up with several instances of harassment, had to deal with her snakes roaming around his place on more than one occasion, and of course, had walked in on the two of them engaged in sexual activities of various kinds multiple times.
Obito had been pushed to his limits countless of times over the course of Kakashi's relationship with Anko. But he usually had to stand down and swallow his snarky remarks because, damn it, Kakashi was genuinely happy for the first time since Obito had met him back in the Academy, and he would be damned if he let anyone — including himself — take that away from him.
He would support Kakashi's choice no matter what, even if it meant trouble for him more often than not.
However, Kakashi was currently out on an escort mission, which meant that Obito could actually enjoy some time by himself, away from life-partners and their scary girlfriends.
He hummed as he climbed the stairs of the Hatake home. The cicadas on the surrounding trees were being very loud, their song buzzing in his ears, so much that he didn't even hear the lock disengaging when he turned his key.
He was very preoccupied with thoughts of where he should take Rin for dinner — it had to be nice since it was going to be just the two of them — so much that he didn't even register the gasps that were coming from the kitchen, until he came face to face with Kakashi and Anko humping on the kitchen counter.
"Oh my God, seriously, guys? I eat here!" Obito grumbled, sealing his eyes with his hands and turning around, although he doubted that he could ever burn the image from his mind.
He heard the rustling of clothes and groaning, followed by a string of very colorful swear words — courtesy of Anko.
"Great timing, dipshit," she growled.
"Well, excuse me, this is my house, too," he barked back in annoyance, not deeming it safe to lower his hand from his eyes yet. He turned to where he guessed Kakashi was standing. "Weren't you supposed to be on a mission?"
Kakashi shrugged, pulling on his shirt. "Got back early."
"And you just had to go at it in the kitchen," Obito complained, removing his hand from his eyes when the rustling of clothes was over. "What's next? My room?"
A look passed between Kakashi and Anko and Obito was instantly alarmed.
"Oh, come on!" he yelled in exasperation, making a bee-line for his room to check if everything was in place. He had zero trust in either of them when it came to staining his private quarters.
After a quick inspection revealed that they had been simply messing with him about using his room for their dirty purposes (he wasn't a hundred percent convinced, but), Obito grumpily returned to the kitchen to find Anko sitting on the counter they had previously been having sex on and Kakashi casually cutting up some fruit. They didn't seem the least bit ashamed of having been caught red-handed just mere moments ago.
That was another thing that bothered him tremendously — they were both utterly and completely shameless.
He shot them the appropriate glare and reached for a bottle of water from the fridge. He watched from the corner of his eye as the two of them casually ate up the sliced fruit — Kakashi's mask was oddly absent. Obito distinctly remembered a time when he was so intrigued by what his friend was hiding under that mask. By now, he knew that it was mostly habit rather than trust issues that made Kakashi keep it on at all times.
"So why are you back?" he asked after his initial anger had boiled down.
Kakashi shrugged and popped a slice of peach in his mouth. "The daimyo wrapped up the meeting earlier than we expected."
Obito snorted. He had first-hand experience on feudal lords' meetings and they were boring as fuck. The majority of them was spent on drinking tea and exchanging pleasantries, and even when they got to the core of the meeting, it was a challenge not to fall asleep due to the mundanity of the conversation.
"They're really working themselves to the bone, huh."
"Keeping the countries on the straight and narrow," Kakashi replied snidely. He gestured to the plate by Anko's thigh. "Want some?"
Obito looked almost offended. "Not a chance. I'm not touching anything that you two have touched for the next three days. In fact, I'm sterilizing the kitchen tomorrow."
"Lost cause," Anko provided with a sly grin.
Obito scowled at her. "Don't you have a place of your own? I bet you could have lots of fun there."
"But there's no you there, Obito-kun," she said with a suggestive wink.
"Kakashi!" he hissed in horror at the nickname, but Kakashi was laughing. "Put a leash on your girlfriend!"
"Tried it — didn't work."
The sultry look that passed between the two of them wasn't lost on Obito. He face-palmed. "Oh my God—that's it, I'm leaving."
"Don't you want to have dinner?" Kakashi inquired.
"With you two? No, thank you. I'm picking up Rin after her shift."
"So, you finally managed to convince her to go out with you," Anko teased. "Didn't think you had it in you."
He flushed like a tomato. "I don't know what you're talking about. Why would I ask her out? You don't know what you're saying."
Kakashi chuckled. "The crush you've had on her since we were kids has nothing to do with it, I'm sure."
"There is no crush!" Obito hissed and stomped out of the kitchen.
"You're pathetic!"
"Obito?"
He raised his head from his hands just in time to see her coming down the hall.
"Hey, Rin," he murmured tiredly.
"Are you okay?" Rin asked, running a quick visual check on him with the trained eyes of a medic. "You look... well, like shit."
He waved her off and stood up. He had half a foot on her, but it never failed to amuse him how powerful she seemed in her small stature. "Just tired. I had to babysit Naruto."
"Oh," she said as they started on their way out of the hospital. "I thought it was your day off."
"It was supposed to be. But there is no day off in the eyes of a busy Hokage with a hyperactive kid. Plus, he had promised Kushina he would take Naruto off her hands for the day so that she could actually work on some seals."
Rin shook her head. "I don't think sensei realizes that Kushina is not just dumping Naruto on him; she wants them to spend more time together. She told me that Naruto is getting mad that he can't see his dad whenever he wants."
"When I become Hokage, I will have a daycare room in the Hokage Tower so I can pop in and see my kids whenever I like," Obito boasted.
"Already thinking about kids?" Rin teased and he shook his head almost violently.
"God no. Not for at least another five years. Can you imagine me raising a kid? I would probably leave it in the laundry basket or something."
"Nonsense. I'm sure you'll be a great dad when the time comes," she said. Her gaze left Obito to take in their surroundings, and she realized that they weren't heading to Ichiraku. "Hey, where are we going?"
"I thought we could go to Shushuya for a change," Obito answered. "Never thought I'd say this, but I need a break from ramen."
Rin simply laughed and followed his lead through Konoha's busiest street and towards the restaurant of choice. Shushuya was one of the most popular places in Konoha; it was Jiraiya's first stop whenever he came back to the village, and it was quite popular amongst foreigners as well. It was fancier than Ichiraku and offered gourmet as well as regular food and sold their own brand of sake. It wasn't usually Team Minato's place of choice to eat, but she supposed that Obito liked to fancy it up from time to time. One could only handle so much ramen when they possessed no Uzumaki stomach, after all.
Shushuya was crowded as usual, despite it being a weeknight, but they managed to find a small table for two close to the bar. Rin's senses were immediately assaulted with the smell of alcohol and smoke, as well as the delicious scent of roasting meat. She privately applauded Obito for his choice. She could use something other than ramen as well.
They were mostly quiet as they ate their yakitori and sipped the house sake, which was strikingly odd. Rin was not a quiet person, although she was reserved at times, and Obito was decidedly a blabbermouth — and an incurable gossip to boot. To have him sitting there quietly eating his dinner was an extraordinary scenario.
When they were both done with their dinner and Obito had still not made any move towards conversation other than some brief comments on random stuff, Rin decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Okay, spill it," she said decisively, pinning her gaze on him. "What's wrong with you?"
"Me? N-nothing's wrong! I told you, I'm just a bit tired!"
She would have normally bought that, if it wasn't for his complete distractedness throughout the evening and his terrible lying skills.
"Obito," Rin started gravely, using what Obito had come to call her 'medic voice'. "I haven't seen you in two weeks. You brought me here to have dinner and yet you've barely said a word to me the entire evening. Usually you talk so much that my ears are buzzing by the end of the night."
He pouted like a puppy. "I didn't know I was that annoying to you."
"You're not," she assured him. "But sometimes I really don't need to hear all the gossip that's going around in the village."
"It's not my fault that I know stuff! I guess people just feel comfortable enough to talk to me about this and that. It's not like I ask them to tell me gossip, they just do."
"And I'm sure you're not enjoying knowing everything that's happening," she teased, making his ears burn red.
He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "That's irrelevant."
Rin shook her head at his antics. However, Obito's quirky remarks weren't enough to sidetrack her from her goal.
"So, given that normally you can't stop going on about anything and everything, I think it's safe to assume that there's something on your mind tonight. Was it your mission? You said it was a success."
Obito's shoulders slumped, as if he had just remembered the reason for his bad mood in the first place. "No, it's not that."
"Did someone get hurt?"
"No, we all made it back fine."
"Did something happen with the clan?"
"As much of a pain as they can be, no. It's not the clan."
"Did Naruto say anything to you? You know you're not supposed to take him seriously; he's just five."
She remembered the last time Naruto had been a bit more lax with his tongue regarding Obito. She couldn't recall exactly what had been said, but it had wounded the Uchiha's pride and kept him sulking for at least a week.
"No, Naruto was actually obedient this time. Sure, he had more ramen than he could obviously take, which earned me a slap from Kushina when I dropped him off, but the brat was good in general."
"Then what's on your mind? Come on, Obito, I know that I'm an insightful person, but I'm not a Yamanaka. You have to tell me when something's bothering you." She paused then, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. "Did I do something wrong?"
That seemed to do the trick. Obito had always been receptive to her mind games; it was true, she was no Yamanaka, but she didn't need to be in order to coerce Obito into spilling his secrets. His childhood crush on her notwithstanding, he was still very much hopeless when it came to complying with her wishes.
"No, of course not!" he exclaimed, all his usual extravagant gestures following. "How could you have done something wrong? No, Rin, you—it's not—"
Obito sighed deeply, dropping his eyes on the table and contemplating whether or not he should tell her what was going on in his mind.
"Obito?" she asked gently and he took a deep breath.
"It's Kakashi."
Rin raised her eyebrows in question. "Did you two fight?"
"No, it's—" He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "It's not Kakashi per se. It's more like Kakashi's… affiliations."
"You have a problem with Gai? I didn't know he was even in the village. Didn't he go on a training trip to the Land of Tea?"
"No, not Gai," he said, lowering his voice and speaking the name like a venom, "Anko."
"I'm afraid I don't understand, Obito. What problem could you possibly have with Anko? I know she's a bit eccentric, but—"
"A bit?" Obito said incredulously. "Rin, she's been propositioning me to have a threesome with them!"
It was probably not the best idea to be taking a sip of her sake at that point. Rin coughed uncontrollably as the liquid went down the wrong way, and Obito had to reach over and pat her in the back.
When she had somehow recovered, she said, "I'm sure she's just joking, Obito."
Although Rin wasn't so sure herself anymore. It was no secret that Anko was very libertine, and Kakashi had apparently blossomed into one as well in the past few years—it was one of the reasons they had clicked together in the first place. But sometimes it was hard to decipher where the dirty humor ended and honesty began. Usually she didn't even want to know.
Obito frowned. "That's not even half of it. They're crossing all the lines, and we didn't have that many in the first place. When I got home today, they were screwing—in the kitchen! My kitchen! On the counter! Where I eat!"
Rin opened her mouth to somehow counter him—she had to, if she wanted to calm him down and make him see reason, although she supposed that reason was one thing she couldn't apply to Anko and Kakashi's antics—but Obito was on a rant.
"The other day I found handcuffs in my room—my room! And I've told Kakashi a million times that I don't care what they do as long as they steer clear of my stuff, but does anything I ever say hit home? No!"
She watched him quietly as he went on. His face was red as a tomato by now.
"Not to mention all the times I've walked in on them. I'm an adult, I get it; they want to have sex all the time. I'm cool with that. But a bit of respect for the roommate he shares his house with would be appreciated! I've seen Anko naked more times than I've seen any of my own girlfriends!"
Which were actually two, if he could even call them that. Unlike Kakashi, he hadn't lucked out in finding one person who would stick with him for more than a few months.
"Okay," Rin spoke up when it was evident that he was slightly calmer. "I think you might be overreacting a bit."
Fury flashed in his eyes; for a moment, she swore she saw red shine in his irises. "They use my room as their sex dungeon! I'm NOT overreacting!"
"Alright, alright," she said, raising her hands up in surrender. "You're not overreacting. But still, you have to cut them some slack. They're twenty-one. They want to fool around; it's normal that they take it a bit too far sometimes."
"No, no, no, no," Obito interrupted. "I don't care if they fool around. They can do whatever they want with their sex lives—I don't care. But when it starts to affect me personally, I can't turn a blind eye."
"Come on, Obito, is it really that bad? I'm sure you're just accumulating every past event right now because you're mad."
"It's not just that, Rin. I'm not even comfortable at my own house anymore. I don't know if Anko's entirely joking, but it's come to a point where it's scary. And Kakashi just joins her—that's even worse! If I get propositioned one more time, I swear…"
"I think you just need some time to cool off. You're probably upset because it was your day off and you didn't get to relax like you wanted to. I'm sure you'll change your mind when you calm down."
"That's just it, I am calm. I could brush it off if it only happened once or twice, but this is a regular occurrence we're talking about. I could deal with it if it was just a fling that would go away. But they're serious. I don't know how the hell that happened, but it's not just a sex thing. They're actually fucking in love with each other and this is not going to go away."
She knew that already. However weird their friend's relationship with Anko might have seemed to the outside world, it wasn't difficult to see that the two of them genuinely cared for each other. Both Kakashi and Anko shared tragic pasts, and she knew that this was part of what brought them together. Moreover, they balanced each other out. Kakashi was usually quiet, mellow and cool, whereas Anko was loud, boisterous and flamboyant — kind of like Obito. For the people who didn't know them, it was easy to miss the small gestures that betrayed their true feelings, but Rin had been around them long enough to be able to spot the signs when she saw them.
Obito's sudden gasp broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up just in time to see his eyes widening in horror. "Oh my God, Rin—what if they get married? What if they have kids?! What if those genes get passed on to them and then we have another generation of Anko—combined with Kakashi's DNA! The world is not ready for that! And frankly, neither am I!"
Rin was tempted to laugh at him at this point. "What are you going to do then? Drive a wedge between them so that they break up?"
"I don't know," he grumbled. "Maybe I should move out, get a place by myself. Two's a company, but three's a crowd. A really bad crowd."
He buried his face in his hands. "But I don't want to live alone. I've been living with Kakashi for years now and I'm used to it. He may not be the best roommate, but he's there. He makes noise, even though that's usually accompanied by Anko. I can't stand the silence."
She smiled at that. It was a wonder that Obito had been born into the Uchiha clan at all. Where most of the Uchiha were calm and collected, colorless and indifferent, Obito shone as bright as the sun. He was loud and expressive, and the quiet was definitely not his friend. She often wondered how he managed to excel in ANBU, a unit whose foundations were based on stealth and silence.
It was also a wonder that neither the clan nor the ANBU had managed to change him at all.
"Why don't you come live with me?"
"Huh?" His head shot up and he looked shocked at the blurted out proposal.
"Well," Rin started, fighting the urge to twiddle her thumbs. "You are not comfortable with Kakashi's... sexual endeavors and my apartment is too big for one person. You know that my cousin moved out last month and I have a room to spare. I was actually thinking of putting up an ad for a roommate one of these days because my economies are already taking quite a blow with the bills and all."
Obito eyed her carefully. "Rin, are you sure about that? I don't want to impose on you or anything."
She levelled him with a stare. "Obito, we have been friends our entire lives. I know you and Kakashi better than anyone. Do you really think I would ask you if I wasn't serious about it?"
Obito pursed his lips in thought. "I don't know. I mean… you're probably right. I'm probably overreacting. They're not that bad. I'm just… accumulating, was it? Yeah. I guess I could…"
He trailed off abruptly, and Rin looked confused by the look of terror that spread on his face. Following his line of sight, she saw a very familiar pair making their way towards their table.
"Hey, sweetcheeks!" Anko's voice cut through the air and Rin saw the color drain from Obito's face.
He turned to her, his expression serious and horrified at the same place. "I'm in. I'm all in."
Rin couldn't help but chuckle at his misery as their two friends sat down next to them, with Obito yelping when Anko's hand trailed up his thigh.
