Title: staccato
Summary: Obito falls in love with the music next door. The pianist he doesn't like so much. (Their story from start to finish.) [au, kakaobi/obikaka]
Notes: side itashi, messing with ages
.
Obito's been living in this apartment for nearly two years now, after he was practically disowned by his clan. But that's okay, because Shisui and Itachi and Sasuke still keep in touch, and he's made plenty of friends here. He thinks he's happier this way, without all the irritating arranged marriages and the such.
On the floor above him are Rin Nohara, a lovely and rather terrifying lady (she's a doctor, that's to be expected), and Maito Gai, a rather eccentric man who has a thing for obnoxiously green spandex. The apartment next door has been empty for two months now; originally, Deidara had lived there, but he moved for some strange reason or the other. (All Obito remembers from that conversation is "art" and "un" and "bang".
He kind of misses the blonde bastard but he's also glad for the peace and quiet, because every single damn night he couldn't sleep until Deidara did because the asshole loved exploding things. Stupid pyromaniacs. Not that he'd ever say that to Deidara's face.)
On the floor below him, the ground floor, live Kurenai Yuuhi and Asuma Sarutobi that are so dating but won't admit it. Everyone teases them about it.
Life is good.
.
There's a knock at his door when Obito's still making his coffee. With a grimace, he opens it without checking because there's only one other person who's up at this ungodly hour on Saturday (come on, it's only eight). "What do you want, Rin?"
"You have a neighbor," Rin says with a grin. "The apartment next door's been taken."
Obito blinks, raises an eyebrow, and gives Rin an unimpressed look. "It's eight, it's Saturday, I haven't had coffee yet, and I really don't care."
"Aww, Obito, you're no fun," she pouts. "I'm going back up to my apartment then. Tell me if you meet the guy, okay?"
Obito rolls his eyes. "Yeah, fine, fine." He then shuts the door in her face because really, it's too early to deal with this shit.
.
Sixteen days later, there's still no sign of the newcomer. It's a little perplexing, because Obito can clearly see their shoes outside their door, and he's never seen them yet.
Well. As long as whoever this person is doesn't wake him up in the middle of the night asking for (demanding) sugar like Deidara did, they'll get along like fish and water.
Obito flops onto the couch after an exhausting Monday and immediately turns on the TV, surfing through the channels. There's a new guy at work, and seriously, he is an asshole, even if Obito has to admit he's smart. He's just… sarcastic and blunt to everyone but the higher-ups, and that's only when he's not ignoring them, not to mention he looks sick and coughs all the time, though that might be the reason for his asshole-ness.
Then the first few notes of a piano ring out awkwardly.
Freezing, Obito mutes the TV and sits up because nobody in this building has a piano. That means it must be the person next door who just moved in.
Music starts up again, except it's far more elegant than before, and Obito listens, entranced. It's only when it stops that Obito realizes that he'd frozen and just sat there.
At least Rin isn't here, otherwise he'd never live it down, he realizes as the music starts up again.
.
The pianist had become some kind of a routine, because every day, at eight to nine pm, the music would start up again, and the building would go silent, everybody ceasing in their activities to listen.
There are a few days where the pianist doesn't play, of course, but those are rare and far in between. On those days, Obito's day doesn't feel complete, and only then does he realize that he's grown to crave it.
He still hasn't met the pianist.
.
Obito heads up to his apartment building carrying a bag of groceries when he spots a familiar head of silver hair that he really doesn't want to see outside or during work.
"What are you doing here?" he grouses, giving Kakashi a pissy look.
"What are you doing here?" Kakashi retorts with a huff, turning to look at him. Even with that stupid mask he can tell Kakashi's mouth is pressed in a thin line.
"I'm going home?"
"I'm here for the same reason as you, then." Kakashi rolls his eyes and pulls out a key to unlock the door.
Obito can only stare as the door unlocks with a click and Kakashi steps in, still holding the door open with his eyebrow quirked. "Are you coming in, or is this the wrong building?"
He blinks rapidly before picking up his pace and entering the building. "Since when have you lived here?" he demands.
"Three months ago," huffs Kakashi as they climb up the stairs. Obito can't help but notice how loud his footsteps are in comparison to Kakashi's. He also can't help but notice Kakashi's slight wheezing.
Kakashi heads for the door next to Obito's, and Obito freezes again. With an exasperated sigh, Kakashi turns towards him. "What?"
Obito unfreezes and heads for his own door, ignoring Kakashi. He opens his door and goes inside his apartment in a hurry, all but slamming the door shut.
The music next door is still beautiful, though.
.
"I can't believe it," Obito moans.
Rin snorts into her tea from her seat beside him on the couch. "Get over it, Obito. Kakashi's not that bad, either way. He's just… reclusive. Antisocial."
Obito glares at her, nearly spilling his coffee. "You don't deal with him at work every day for eight hours," he growls. "How would you know?"
Rin rolls her eyes in response. "Oh, I don't know, maybe I actually went down to talk to him? I sent him a basket of fruit, too. I think he likes it, though he never says it."
"Did he at least thank you?"
"Of course he did," Rin sighs, exasperated. "I think he's just lonely. He looks like he needs a hug."
Obito looks at Rin incredulously. "Rin, the day I give Kakashi a hug is the day Shisui professes his non-familial love for Itachi and you know that's not going to happen like, ever because that stupid dork is, well, stupid. And a dork."
Rin just laughs at him. "You two would get along," she tells him with a smile. "I'm certain of it. Actually, I'm pretty sure that Kakashi would be fine being friends with you. I think it's just you."
"If it's just me why does it seem like he's trying to make people dislike him?" Obito shoots back. "Seriously. He literally ignores everybody until they talk to him first, and when he actually says something it's usually rude. I'm just glad he missed my 'I'm always late' phase because I doubt he would've let that go. Last time I came in late just the once and he lectured me. Lectured me about how I was supposed to be a responsible adult and turn up on time."
Rin has the audacity to burst out laughing again. "Come on, Obito. It's not like he has a vendetta against you or anything," she placates, patting Obito's arm gently. "I've talked to him a couple of times, you know. Besides, he just seems to be rather professional."
"If by professional you mean rude, sure," Obito retorts sourly, sipping his coffee.
"Obito Uchiha, I swear to god, if you do not grow a pair and knock on his door to be civil just once, I will call Sasuke, and you know that is never a good thing."
"You wouldn't," says Obito, horrified.
"I would," Rin replies, voice dripping with poisoned honey and reminding Obito of a traumatizing incident involving a crash course in Chinese with Shisui and steamed meat buns.
.
Obito buys a fruit basket, marches up to Kakashi's door, and rings its doorbell, half-hoping Kakashi's not home.
Naturally, Kakashi has to open the door. Obito can't help but notice he looks like he just rolled out of bed and that's kind of hard to imagine considering that he's always so punctual. He raises an eyebrow. "A welcoming gift?" he inquires dryly. "That's a little late."
"Don't get me wrong," Obito warns. "I'm doing this because Rin threatened to call my cousin and for a ten year old, he is terrifying. And he adores her."
Kakashi laughs and it's a nice sound. And Obito's not entirely certain if he's more surprised that Kakashi is capable of making such a sound or his previous thought process. "It's nice to know I'm so wanted," he says sarcastically as Obito hands the basket off to him. "Did you want to come inside?"
Obito opens his mouth to say no. "Yeah, sure," is what comes out instead. Oh my god why.
He moves out of the doorway and opens the door wider to allow Obito in. It's generally the same as his apartment, except with far less furniture and its arrangement is a little different. Obito takes it all in, trying to compare it to when Deidara was its resident and finds he can't.
It's probably the lack of explosives and shards of whatever the hell he'd been exploding.
It's also probably the dog.
The small dog sitting on the couch gives Obito an unimpressed look. "That's Pakkun," Kakashi says, answering Obito's unasked question. "He's my dog," he adds unnecessarily, and Obito takes a seat on one of the chairs when Kakashi gestures to one of them and heads to his kitchen.
"I would get one but my cousins are allergic," Obito replies. "They don't come over often but when they do they usually stay for a month or so." He looks around at the neat area again, and can't help but think that Deidara and Kakashi are completely different people.
It's also probably the piano.
"Is that so." Obito hears Kakashi pouring water. "Coffee or tea?"
"Coffee." Obito dithers around, wondering what to say. How awkward. "Uh…" He spots the stack of papers on the piano bench. "You play the piano really well."
"Ah, thanks, but not really." Kakashi leans against the counter lazily, waiting for the water to boil. "My dad was better."
Obito notices the "was". "Did he teach you?"
"Mmmhmm," is Kakashi's reply as he begins to make some coffee. "Do you want any cream or sugar?"
"Both."
He can practically hear Kakashi's raised eyebrow. "…I'm assuming you want a lot of both as well."
"What can I say? I like my coffee sweet," Obito protests defensively.
"So does Gai."
Obito's not too certain if he likes being compared to Gai because whoa that's a lot of green spandex and sparkles. "Um." Kakashi hands him a mug of coffee and sits down with a cup of tea and a happy sounding sigh. He seems to just be inhaling the scent of the tea.
He takes a cautious sip of his coffee and is delightedly surprised when he finds it's actually really sweet. Obito does love his sugar and all. He makes a happy huff of his own as he sips contentedly on the coffee.
They sit like that for a while, and Obito thinks they can maybe pull this whole "being civil" thing off.
.
Kakashi's still an asshole at work. Why Obito's surprised is really beyond him.
But when he's at home with his dogs, he seems to become a different person; he's still certainly blunt and has the same sense of humor, but he's a lot mellower and can actually say things other than insults, which is actually something Obito had thought was impossible.
At first, Obito only dropped by his place occasionally, maybe every other week or so. Then the visits became more frequent, and now, Obito comes by every other day. He's found out that Kakashi really, really likes eggplant, and he's usually out on Sunday mornings.
It's part of his routine, now. Obito likes it that way.
.
Obito hears the obnoxious ringtone of Ylvis's What Does the Fox Say and groans aloud, reaching for his cellphone to pick up.
"What do you want, Shisui?" he grumbles, sitting up and he can just feel that his hair is messy. This isn't exactly what he wants to wake up to on a Sunday morning.
"Is that the welcome your favorite little cousin gets, Obito?" Shisui replies, obnoxiously cheerful.
"No," Obito retorts. "That's because Itachi's my favorite."
"Ouch," Shisui says drolly. "You've mortally wounded my heart. Whatever shall I do?"
Obito rolls his eyes but can't help but smile. "Maybe tell me what you want to tell me?"
"There's that option, certainly." There's a grin in Shisui's voice that Obito can just hear two hundred miles away and over a cellphone. "But I won't leave you hanging, m'kay? Say, you think it's alright if we, as in Itachi, Sasuke, and I, join you for Thanksgiving?"
"You do that anyways," Obito tells him. "Yeah, sure. I hope Itachi's not driving. I'd rather you three all whole."
Shisui snickers. "Wait until I tell him that you said that. Okay, love you, talk to you later!" Beep.
.
Obito jogs down the stairs, opening the door for his cousins. "Obito! It's been a while!" Shisui grins widely and throws his arms around him while Sasuke tackles his leg. Itachi merely nods and smiles slightly.
"Yeah, it really has been," Obito agrees. "Come on, let go of me Sasuke." The ten year old positively giggles and races up the stairs, followed quickly by Itachi and Shisui while Obito mocks walking with a limp.
He makes it to the top last. Sasuke snickers. "Obito-jii-chan!"
Obito shakes a fist at the brat with a good-natured grin. "I'm not old enough to be your grandfather, squirt." Unlocking the door, he steps in and holds it open for his cousins.
"It's nice, getting out of the big city for once," Itachi muses, setting his suitcase down and pulling off his shoes.
"It's loads quieter here, yeah," Shisui agrees, already lounging on his couch with Sasuke on his lap, who's clamoring for the remote, which he's casually holding out of reach. Itachi joins them on the couch while Obito heads for the kitchen to make some coffee.
Then the doorbell rings as he sets the tray of coffee down and he heads for the door. "Oh, hey, Rin."
Sasuke stands up so fast he knocks his head against Shisui's chin, who winces. The ten year old sprints over and throws his arms around Rin. "Rin-nee-chan!"
"Sasuke!" she exclaims, ruffling his hair. "You've gotten taller! How are your friends?"
"Naruto's still an idiot and Sakura-chan's still really, really scary," Sasuke tells her eagerly as Obito lets Rin into the apartment. "And, and did you know that Suigetsu blasted Karin-chan with water the other day? She was soooo mad!" He giggles again.
Rin takes a seat on one of the chairs, Sasuke taking a seat on her lap and telling her the story of his life and the such. Obito hands her the tea wordlessly, having expected her a while ago, and picks up his own coffee.
Then, suddenly, the now familiar beginnings of a song start up, and Obito mutes the TV. Shisui's about to protest when he hears it. Sasuke quiets as well, listening thoughtfully.
They sit like that for an hour, and Obito doesn't even notice his coffee going cold until Kakashi's music stops, and it always does.
After that, there's a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Shisui breathes, "Damn."
"I know," Rin agrees with a smile. "Kakashi's rather good at piano. He moved in half a year ago, and he's been playing almost the entire time."
"You know, I'm tempted to knock on his door and send him a fruit basket," Shisui says, "because that is damn good enough to shut Sasuke up."
Obito smirks and drinks his cold coffee. "I suggest you don't. He has eight dogs."
Shisui scowls. "Allergies be damned."
Itachi smiles. "I suppose I can go and speak to him."
"Or maybe, I could just invite him over?" Obito suggests dryly.
Sasuke pumps his fists up in the air, narrowly missing Rin's chin. "Yeah, yeah!"
.
Shisui looks up as soon as Obito enters the room, Kakashi in tow. He bounds over and shoves a fruit basket into Kakashi's arms. "I have received a total of twenty-four fruit baskets," he says. "One from Rin, one from you, one from Obito, one from the boss, and twenty from Gai."
"Are you serious?" Obito asks incredulously.
"I'm lucky that my doctor loves fruit," Kakashi grumbles as he takes a seat, setting the basket on the table. "Otherwise it would've all gone bad."
"You, my kind sir, are an amazing pianist," Shisui proclaims, stealing a banana from the basket of fruit and pointing it at him.
"Thanks," Kakashi replies as Obito hands him a warm cup of tea. "I've been playing since I was three. About twenty years now."
"I play the violin," Itachi offers. "I only started three years ago, so I'm not all that good."
Sasuke snickers. "Itachi-nii, your violin sounds like when someone steps on Tora-chan's tail."
Itachi adopts a pained look on his face.
"He's hailed as a prodigy, but it's like he's utterly useless in everything but academics," Shisui says with a grin as Itachi punches him in the side. The older gasps out in pain and wheezes in a voice about an octave higher, "And any kind of martial arts."
Kakashi laughs. It's still a nice sound, even if Obito's heard it many times already. "He's ferocious," he says. "Like a weasel."
"That joke got old when I was five," Itachi huffs flatly.
"I still get the 'you're as thin as a scarecrow' a lot," Kakashi replies dryly.
"And every time I walk into a fortuneteller shop and tell them my name, they tell me I'm going to drown to death," Shisui adds cheerfully.
"Everyone keeps saying Sasuke, duck!" Sasuke offers with a pouty scowl.
"Ring, ring," is all Rin says.
"No jokes about my name," Obito announces, sipping his coffee.
"Well, stick out your neck a little," Kakashi comments with a grin that's clear under his mask. Obito glares.
"I love this guy," Shisui says.
.
"Keep in touch," Shisui tells Kakashi.
"Sure," Kakashi drawls, flapping a piece of paper with Shisui's number on it.
"Don't die," Obito advises. "Don't let Itachi drive."
"Those are synonymous," Shisui huffs while Itachi glares daggers at both of them.
"We'll come visit you for the Christmas holidays, okay?" Sasuke exclaims with a bright and happy grin.
"That'd be lovely," Kakashi says, and Obito notices he looks… sad. Wistful, almost, but the expression is gone as soon as it appears.
As soon as Obito's cousins are gone, he turns to his remaining companion. "Something bothering you?"
Kakashi starts and meet's Obito quizzical gaze. "No, nothing important," he says, clearly lying through his teeth, and heads up the stairs. Obito doesn't push, but he notices that he's breathing heavily by the time he reaches the second floor.
.
Obito is working late, on his computer, when he's rudely interrupted by frantic scratching at his door. Raising an eyebrow, he rises and opens it, only to see Pakkun there and with a bunch of keys in his mouth.
Beginning to panic a little, Obito takes them, ignoring the slobber, and hurriedly unlocks the door. He can hear violent coughing coming from what he assumes to be Kakashi's room, and he dodges furniture to enter, flicking on the lights.
"Shit, Kakashi," he hisses, pulling off the covers to see him coughing into his hand. The pale hand is glistening red.
"A-ah," Kakashi manages to wheeze. "Pakkun… he went… to go get… you." He merely says it as a statement.
"Don't—just shut up," Obito growls. "I'm going to go get Rin." Quickly, he pulls out his cell phone. He has her on speed dial, and he's never been more thankful for it at that moment.
"Hey… I'm gonna… say goodbye," Kakashi mutters. "Just in case… I don't get to…"
"I told you to shut up."
Rin picks up after a few moments of terrible wheezing and beeping. "Obito, it's eleven thirty, what do you want?" she asks sleepily.
"Just—come down to Kakashi's apartment, door's unlocked, he's—"
Rin seems to become alert instantly, as Obito can hear her getting dressed and quickly as well. "Oh. That idiot… just wait there, okay? I'm going to call Tsunade." Then she hangs up.
Obito is at a loss as what to do, and is relieved when Rin arrives and kicks him out of the room because he's utterly useless in this situation. He's even more relieved when a blonde woman marches through the door, clearly a doctor, and takes Kakashi away to presumably a hospital.
He doesn't know what to do.
.
"Did you know?" he asks Rin quietly, the day after.
"Yes," Rin answers, voice soft. "Patient confidentiality. He moved here because Tsunade-san did. She's one of the best in the world, you know. I don't really know the full story, so if you want to know, you're going to have to ask Kakashi himself."
"Am I going to get the chance to?" Obito retorts flatly.
Rin is unable to answer that.
Obito's not entirely certain what he'll do if Kakashi moves on to the next world. He and that stupid mask and rude comments and punctuality and beautiful music.
All he knows is that the world will be just slightly duller, a bit quieter, and a lot emptier.
.
He comes to visit him a week later. He brings forget-me-nots.
"Hello," says Kakashi, and it's the first time Obito's heard his voice in a week. The last time hadn't been pleasant either, and Obito's glad to hear his voice without the rasp of a dying man. "It's been a while."
"Rin told me."
Kakashi's smile doesn't falter, and Obito only now realizes that he's not wearing that god-forsaken mask. "Yeah, I guess she would," he hums. "I hope you're not going to miss me. I was a pretty big asshole, hmm."
Obito wants to protest loudly that Kakashi's not going to die, but they both know that isn't true. So he simply sets the flowers on the table. "Of course I'm going to miss you, you fucking asshole. You and your stupid Chopping or Beetle or whatever."
"That's Chopin and Beethoven," Kakashi corrects mildly, sounding amused.
"So… how long?"
"You mean how long I've had this disease? Hereditary. It's only thanks to Tsunade I survived this long, you know," Kakashi muses thoughtfully. He looks perfectly happy for someone talking about his own impending doom and Obito hates it. "If you mean how long I have to live? I guess at most next week."
Something drops in Obito's stomach and he suddenly finds it hard to breathe.
"Hey, don't be sad," Kakashi chides softly. "If I'm not, why are you?"
"Maybe because if you're gone, that apartment's going to be empty?" Obito suddenly snaps. Kakashi doesn't look surprised, just looks so… serene, and Obito hates it. "What about your dogs, aren't they going to miss you? I don't want to break the news to Shisui and Itachi and Sasuke, either. And I…" Obito swallows. The words are difficult to say. "I'm never going to hear you play piano again."
Kakashi is quiet for a moment, as though digesting Obito's words. "Oh."
.
"Why aren't you sad? About dying, I mean."
"I don't have much to live for," Kakashi answers, looking up at the ceiling. "I mean, my mother died in childbirth, and my dad died to this same disease when I was eight, and by then Tsunade had already been helping us out. I was adopted by Minato a couple years later, but he got married, and I was just a burden at that point, so I left without telling him. I made some money by playing piano. It was enough to get me by."
He shrugs. "Then I got a well-paying job. Lived in that area for a while. Tsunade moved, so I did as well. That's really all to my story."
"My clan disowned me three years back," Obito offers. "They really don't like me."
"Can't see why," Kakashi responds mildly, and he doesn't sound sarcastic, so Obito lets it go. "I'm sorry I was such an asshole."
Obito forces himself to talk past the lump in his throat. "I guess… I can see your reasoning for being one," he admits. "I mean, if I knew I was dying, I wouldn't involve anyone either."
Kakashi blinks, then smiles. "I guess we're more similar than we thought."
.
"Come over here," says Kakashi.
Confused, Obito does as he asks.
Kakashi smiles at him, and much to Obito's surprise, his lashes are wet. "You know, I don't want to die all that much anymore," he whispers, and leans up to press his mouth against Obito's.
Stunned, Obito doesn't reciprocate the action, and Kakashi pulls away with a sad smile. "Please don't mourn too long when I'm gone," he says, his voice faint and slightly raspy. "And… I'm sorry for being so selfish but… please… don't forget…"
Then he falls backwards as Obito watches in horror.
.
Obito doesn't cry at his funeral.
He just feels hollow. He feels empty.
Gai had been sobbing, and Rin had looked like it was getting harder and harder to keep herself in control.
It hadn't been raining, either. It should've been.
But Kakashi doesn't want them to be sad. Obito wouldn't have either, if he was in the same position.
His dogs still need to be taken care of. His piano needs to be maintained.
Obito still has things to do.
.
Obito takes up piano, and it turns out he's terrible at it. But that's fine, because at least Kakashi's piano is still in use. He's not about to sell it.
When his cousins came over, he broke the news to them. Shisui had collapsed against him and sobbed, and Obito had done the same. Sasuke had cried too, and Itachi had simply frozen. That night, Obito heard him stifling cries into the pillow.
Life's not all that good. But life moves on.
.
"Hey," Obito says, placing roses on the gravestone. "Did you know? Shisui finally confessed, and seriously, Itachi was so unimpressed. I would totally give you a hug like I told Rin I'd do if Shisui ever grew a pair, but…"
There's no reply from the cold gravestone. Obito doesn't expect one.
"I hope you're happy up there," Obito adds. He pauses. "Yeah, I know you're up there. You deserve it."
He can almost hear a yeah, right in Kakashi's most snobbish voice possible. Obito almost smiles, but instead he sees rather than feels something hit the gravestone.
"I love you too, dumbass," he whispers as the sky begins to pour.
.
a/n: before you all flame me for not warning you I like making tragic ends a surprise like surprise motherfucker you know.
And I never promised a happy ending in the beginning either so ha. (though I can't believe they only kissed once and it was mostly one-sided JFC)
About the jokes:
Itachi means weasel, Kakashi means scarecrow, Shisui can mean death water, Sasuke's hair looks like a duck butt, Rin=ring (and it can also mean bell), and Obito can mean neck if written in kanji.
Also I love Shisui a lot so he does get loads of screen time. SPREAD THE LOVE lmao
Please leave a review? I love feedback, especially since I don't have a beta.