To fulfill my duty to my village, I must inevitable kill my closest friend. Easier said then done seeing as my closest friend died almost a decade ago.
I was four at the time, and so I saw the world from a far different perspective then I do now. I was sheltered from cruel realities by my parents and superiors, making the war almost non existent. Occasionally I would hear my parents talk about another Uchiha that gave his life to protect us all, but I never recognized any of the names. What I remember of that time was sunshine and the bliss brought on by ignorance and innocence. It was another lifetime, another me. Another best friend.
Looking back, I doubt he ever thought of me the same way, but for as long as I can remember, he was there holding my hand and pulling me along even though he was nine years my senior. On the days he had off from Academy, he would take me to explore the Uchiha compound. We would run through the streets laughing as we passed the frowning elders and sent splashes of water flying from forgotten muddy puddles with our bare feet. We ran until the buildings became small and my throat started to burn and all the Uchiha crests lining the stone walls became a blur or white and red.
His laugh was something else, too. It rang like a million glass bells and made the sun shine brighter with each change of pitch. That laughter was what I heard when he would hold up his hand to help me up after I'd fallen. That laughter was what I heard when he bandaged by scraped knee. That laughter that made me want to laugh too.
He always seemed to see the world through his own little filter that he could set to any consistency he liked. He saw good in everything and everyone. He broke the rules often, but every time he did it made the broken rule seem silly and unimportant and trivial. He lived life for the moment, something I've never been able to do.
Perhaps it had something to do with his goggles. They were the weirdest things I'd ever seen anyone wear; bright orange that clashed horribly with the standard Uchiha blue, and yet on him, like everything else, it seemed natural as if he were born with those goggles on. He let me try them on once, and sure enough the world seemed sunnier, as if everything I saw was put through his filter that strung out all the bad in the world and let only happiness shine through. When I told him this, he laughed his musical laughter and rustled my hair. That was all that Obito was, goggles and laughter and sunshine.
He would tell me about his missions, even D rank missions, as if they were the grandest of adventures. He told me about the time he and his team had to track a lion through the streets of Konoha, or how they had to fight their way through dense jungles and to exterminate a rare plant that threatened the existence of the rest. He raved, his hands flying through the air and gesturing to the skies in exaggeration as he told me about the time he and his team had to take a pack of wolves for a walk on a leash, and how they escaped and he had to wrestle them to the ground. I remember hearing these stories and listening in wide-eyed fascination. Obito's life was one adventure after another, and I could scarcely wait until I could join him on his quests. Sometimes I begged him to take me along, but he always shook his head and told me that it was my job to stay in the village and protect our family and our village in case there was trouble. After all, he would add, the great Uchiha Obito could only be in one place at once…for now. I always shut my mouth and stayed quiet although I was shaking with excitement at an opportunity to play a part on one of these fabled missions. Every time he left to go on one he returned with a tale of adventure and excitement, and sometimes a scratch or two to prove it.
One day, he told me he was going to go a particularly danger mission, one where he would risk his very life in enemy territory. This was to be the most important mission yet, one that could decide the outcome of the entire war. He would come back in a couple of days, and my job, as usual, was to stay home and wait because I'd have the top secret job of watching out for trouble in the village. We said our goodbyes at the village gate, even though Obito was already late for his mission. I waved to him as he left and stayed by the gate even after he was gone.
I waited for three days, each morning getting up and looking out my window to see it he was back yet. When I didn't see him I would get dressed and run to the main gates and peek out. Not seeing him, I would ask the guards stationed there if they'd seen him. I had to stand on my toes just to get my chin up to the table. The guards would smile at my antics and tell me no, Obito-chan wasn't back yet, and they would inform me the second he was spotted on the horizon. I beamed and ran back home, taking the long way make sure that there was no trouble afoot, always true to my promise. And then, when all my chores were done, I would take the long way to the gate again to wait for Obito to return.
On the fourth day, just as the sun was about to set and I got up to walk home again, I saw a group of people making their way over the horizon. I squinted to try to see if it was Obito's team, and sure enough I recognized his teacher's spiky blonde hair bouncing with his step. Letting out an excited cry I ran to meet them, but as I got closer, I noticed someone was missing. I slowed and finally came to a complete stop, watching them trek towards me. Obito was nowhere to be seen.
Obito's female teammate had tears in her eyes and running down her face, her cheeks stained red and eyes puffy like she had been crying for a long time. The stoic teammate with the mask wouldn't even look at me, his eyes cast down and off to his left, hiding the fact that he was probably crying too. The teacher gave me a weak smile as they got closer that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Where's Obito-chan?" I asked my smile falling a little at not being able to see my friend. "Is he hiding?"
The teacher shook his head and the girl made a little squeak and sniffed loudly.
"He's hiding, isn't he?" I forced a smile and I ran past them and looked at the empty path. "Come out, Obito-chan!" I yelled to the trees, "Come out!" No one appeared.
The others had stopped and were looking at me. I turned and gave them desperate look as if asking them why they weren't calling for Obito too.
"Obito-chan!" I called one more time. I strained my ears to hear that laughter that told me Obito was hiding in a bush or a tree and was just playing a joke. "This isn't funny, Obito-chan!" I yelled, fists clenched at my sides.
I turned again to look at his teammates, and for the first time noticed what his teacher was holding.
"Wa-why are you holding Obito's goggles?" I asked quietly, my voice trembling. "Where's Obito-chan?" I felt something pushing at the back on my eyes and I had a bad feeling I already knew the answer. "What did you do with him?" I said a little louder, although my throat was starting to close up a little.
The girl squeezed her eyes and the teacher didn't look at me. Suddenly, the grouchy masked teammate turned his head and glared at me.
"He's dead you little brat! Don't you get that? He died! Gone! Dead! That's it! He's not coming back so shut your damn mouth!" The boy was screaming hysterically, tears streaming down the left side of his face but not his right. Over his left eyes was a long scratch across accompanied by various colors of bruises and scar tissue. The eye itself was red, something I'd seen in some of the adults in my family. My mom told me it was the Sharingan, but only Uchihas had that...
But that didn't register at that moment, because I was too busy trying to understand the words coming out of the boy's mouth. They didn't make sense. Obito couldn't be dead; he wasn't allowed to be dead. He promised he'd return and tell me everything that happened on his adventure. He was so alive last time I saw him. Any minute now, I'd hear his laugh again. He'd laugh and everything would be better and there would be sunshine and happiness and…and…
My jaw quivered as I spun around once more and yelled my friend's name to the empty road desperately. Someone grabbed my arm; it was the blond teacher.
"Come back inside, Itachi-kun. There's nothing—"
"No!" I yelled at him, trying to pull my arm away to no avail, "I have to wait for Obito-chan!"
"Obito isn't coming back," he answered softly.
"No!" I cried again, and tried to run from him but his grip on my arm wouldn't cease. "No no no no no!" I couldn't think of any other word to say, so I continued screaming it even as I face grew hot and my eyes wet.
The blond teacher tried to pull me back but I didn't let him. I knew full well I was acting spoiled and disgraceful and a dishonor to the entire Uchiha clan. I didn't care. The clan was nothing without Obito, just nothing! "No!"
The teacher swung his arm around my waist and hoisted me over his shoulder as if I weighted less than a pillow. I struggled helplessly in the air, fists and feet flying. I knew, I just knew that right over that horizon stood Obito the same way he was when I saw him leaving, waving to me and laughing, wiping my tears and telling me it was all just a joke. I just needed to get to the other side of that hill. I tried to punch the teacher's back, but he either didn't notice or didn't care.
As he carried me through the gate my screams grew louder and more desperate, but I remained ignored. as the giant gate swung shut, my fists lost their strength and my "no"s quieter and less frequent. The tears still streamed endlessly down my face. "No…no…Obito …no…" I gritted my teeth and clung to the teacher's shoulder as he told his other students to go submit the mission report and that he would catch up. He carried me home the short way and handed me over to my mother as he took my father and Obito's father into another room to explain what happened. Mother wouldn't let me in to listen, but I waited outside the door to strain my ears for the the deep male voices even though I wasn't able to make out the words.
When the men were finished I waited for Obito's dad to walk out. As he did, I ran to him and clung to his pant leg. "Where's Obito-chan?" I squeaked pathetically. The man just frowned at me, and my father pulled me off sharply by the back of my collar. I stood up completely straight and still as I watched Obito's dad leave, knowing that I'd be punished greatly for dishonoring my father just now, but I didn't much care.
The sky was cloudy and no one was laughing.
It wasn't until Obito's funeral that I remembered the promise I'd made to him; I was to protect the village and keep it safe until he got back. The village must be safe no matter what. I clenched my fist and looked over at the grave with the orange goggles slung over it. Just the same, even with the goggles, no one would be able to see the world the way Obito had, and now I wouldn't be able to either. Keep the village safe, that's all that mattered now.
Author's Note: Two things. First of all, for those who are wondering, Obito's mission were pulling weeds, walking dogs, and chasing that stupid cat. Secondly, if anyone has read A Separate Peace, yes, Obito is very much based on Finny.