"Heard you got turned down."
Obito gave no response to Kakashi's simple sentence. They'd been teammates long enough for him to recognize the white-haired boy's jibes and he wasn't in the mood for them. After all, getting rejected when he finally got the guts to ask Rin out had him in a pretty bad mood.
At the lack of an angry outburst from the Uchiha, Kakashi frowned. Usually Obito always gave into his emotions and snapped when he taunted him, so to not get an insult back was a bit concerning. He also noticed how down he seemed, and to see Obito not smiling was very rare, adding to his worry.
"Hey, I know she meant a lot to you, but you get too down over it. I'm sure you saw it coming."
Obito glared up at him weakly. "Easy for you to say... She likes you, and you don't even care..."
Kakashi shrugged. "She's a friend. I'm just not interested in her that way."
Obito sighed and looked away, going silent again.
"Did you really expect her to say yes?"
"...No... I knew she wouldn't... That's why it took me that long to ask... I was scared of her answer..." Obito mumbled. "It was stupid of me to bother asking her when I know she's into you... I've probably ruined my friendship with her now..."
"I'm sure she'll get over it. She wouldn't hold that against you."
Obito remained silent again, and Kakashi redirected his attention to look at him again. "..You going to be okay?"
"Like you care... So don't worry about it..."
Kakashi winced. Those words struck his heart like a blade.
*Flashback* "Are you okay, father?" Kakashi stared at his father's back, since he was turned away, though he could tell the White Fang was shaking. Sakumo glanced back at him and smiled thinly. "I'm alright, Kakashi..." The white haired boy stepped toward him and frowned at the bandages on Sakumo's wrists with what looked like fresh blood staining them. Innocent to what it meant, he looked up to meet his father's eyes. "Did you hurt yourself?" Sakumo's forced smile faded and he pulled his sleeve down over the gauze. "Yeah, but I'll be okay... Don't worry about it... You need to hurry, or you'll be late for school..." Kakashi glanced at the time and nodded. "You're right. See you later father." He said, grabbing his bag and heading for the door. Sakumo sighed and murmured, "I love you, Kakashi... Never forget that, no matter what happens..." Kakashi stopped and glanced back at him, thinking that was a bit of an odd thing to say. He'd never said something like that before. "I know. I love you too, father." "Go to school now... And be good for me, okay..?" Kakashi nodded. "Of course." Then he stepped outside and shut the door behind him. Kakashi was distracted most of class, wondering what might have caused Sakumo's behavior to change. He'd noticed his father had seemed down a lot lately, ever since he'd come home from that failed mission. Once class had ended, Kakashi started home right away, having a bad feeling, completely ignoring Rin, Obito, and any other students who tried to talk to him or challenge him to a game. For some reason, he felt like there just wasn't time to stop. Dark clouds had began rolling in over the village, threatening rain and lightning. Kakashi picked up his pace as the first drops started to fall, and was soon sprinting as fast as he could through the streets. He skidded to a stop when his house came into view and felt his heart twist. Someone had painted in large print words all over the front of the house, such as 'Traitor', 'Failure', and 'Kill yourself'. Swallowing nervously, Kakashi approached the door and eased it open, glancing around for Sakumo. "Father..? Are you here..?" No one answered him, and Kakashi stepped into the house, wandering around in search of the White Fang. Finally he came to Sakumo's room and he hesitated at touching the door handle. Instead, he knocked, but still received no response. Kakashi clutched the door knob and turned it, slowly opening the door and stepping inside. His heart stopped in his chest. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the outline of Sakumo's body on the floor and the puddle of dark liquid he was lying in. Kakashi could only stare numbly at the corpse of his father and the kunai in his hand, his slit throat oozing dark crimson. *End of flashback*
Kakashi shook himself and looked down at his heartbroken teammate. "Don't do anything stupid..."
Obito snorted bitterly. "According to you, everything I do is stupid... I'm starting to think you're right..."
Kakashi sat down next to him and shook his head. "No... I'm serious... Don't do anything you'll regret..."
Obito looked over at him. "What are you talking about..?"
The white haired boy winced and looked away, unable to meet his eyes. That's the same empty look his eyes had before he...
"Just... Things aren't as bad as they look, okay? Remember that..."
The Uchiha sighed. "That's not true... Face it, I never met my parents, my grandma died recently, I have no more family, the other Uchiha's have practical disowned me at this point, I suck at school, I couldn't make a clone for the longest time, I haven't awakened my Sharingan yet, everyone at school bullies me all the time, and finally I've screwed up my friendship with Rin just because I couldn't just accept she doesn't care about me that way... How can it 'not be that bad'..? You think it's easy being known as nothing more than 'the Black Sheep of the Uchiha Clan'..?"
"I... I understand things are hard, but-"
"How could you understand? You're talented, everyone loves you at school, you do everything perfectly..."
Kakashi blinked. That's how he sees me..?
"No... You're wrong..."
Obito looked up. "What..?"
"I'm not just talented; I had a great, personal teacher, something you didn't have.. And it's not like everyone likes me... Even if they do, I turn almost everyone away... Just because I may be popular doesn't mean I have a lot of friends... And I'm far from perfect... I make mistakes all the time... Just like I realize now I've really messed up our friendship, haven't I..?"
When Obito didn't answer, Kakashi added, "It's not like it's your fault that your parents died before you were old enough to know them, or your grandma's death... Plus sometimes people just can't learn jutsus as fast as others... You can't blame yourself for how other students or your clan reacts to you... What they say doesn't make who you are; it's how you react to it that makes you.. You survived this far with a smile, h-how can you just give up now..?"
Obito gave Kakashi a shocked expression. He'd never seen the prodigy so emotional before with anyone. "Kakashi, I didn't... I didn't think you cared so much..."
"I'm sorry I never seemed to be there for you before... I know I've been an awful teammate to you, but I do care... Rin cares too... And you know Minato-sensei and Kushina do too... She sees you as a son... You're not alone... Y-You don't need t-to end it..."
"End it..? No..! I wouldn't do that..! Kakashi-" Obito was cut off as his comrade suddenly hugged him. "Wha..? Hey, what's wrong..? What made you think I'd do that..?"
Kakashi's breath hitched slightly, and Obito stiffened. Is he... crying..?
"My f-father... H-He... said some of those things... He h-had that same look right b-before... he committed suicide... I d-don't want to lose someone else l-like that again..."
"I... I'm so sorry... I never knew..." Obito murmured, gently hugging Kakashi back. "I had no idea..."
"I n-never told anyone... I kept it a-all inside, even if it was k-killing me... Shinobi shouldn't show emotions... Shinobi should o-only follow the rules... He broke the rules a-and went b-back to save his comrade... He failed the m-mission and look where i-it got him... Everyone h-hated him for it... He ended u-up dead because he gave i-into his emotions..."
Obito shook his head. "No... You're wrong... It's like you said... It wasn't his fault for everyone hated him for it... He did a great thing... Just because he gave into the pressure doesn't mean he did something wrong... The way people reacted to him was wrong... Comrades are more important than missions. Without comrades, we wouldn't be able to complete any missions after all..."
Kakashi blinked. "...Y-You're right..."
Obito smiled thinly. "No, you're right... You said it first..."
Kakashi sighed and pulled away from him, wiping his eyes. "I'm sorry... You were the one having problems, and you ended up helping me... It should have been the other way around..."
Obito pointed at himself. "I helped you..?"
"Yeah.. I've really needed to get that out... Even if you didn't know, you helped me a lot today... But-"
Obito cut him off. "It's fine, okay? I'm glad I helped you... Plus, you helped me anyways, so don't say you didn't. You reminded me things could be worse and I don't feel so bad about myself. It's not my fault they can't accept me for being myself. And it wasn't your father's fault either."
Kakashi stared at him for a moment, feeling relieved to see him smiling and looking determined again. He's going to be okay...
"Yeah... You're right. Missions are nothing without your teammates beside you. Maybe... breaking the rules is okay sometimes..."
Obito grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "Definitely!"
Kakashi managed to smile under his mask. He hadn't truly smiled ever since that tragic day, but it felt good to be able to again.
I really did screw up, huh..? I shouldn't have been so cold and mean to him... I hadn't realized how things were for him... I guess since he was always smiling, I didn't think it bothered him... I guess I'm not the only one who hid how I felt...
"I'm sorry Obito... I know we had a bad start, but think we could put the past behind us? Our rivalry was kind of foolish to begin with, but it'd be even dumber now.."
"Yeah, alright. It'd be nice to have an actual friend, especially if Rin does hate me now..."
"Quite worrying. I told you she won't be mad at you long. You were still best friends, so she can't really blame you."
Obito nodded. "Guess you're right. Thanks Kakashi. I really appreciate it, you know."
"Right. Just take care of yourself, alright?" Kakashi said, standing up.
Obito jumped up and gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course! You don't need to worry about me. I've got plenty to live for. I just needed a little reminding, that's all."
Kakashi couldn't help but smile a little wider. He'd never opened up or allowed himself to get close to anyone before, but he knew he could trust the Uchiha, and he was glad he'd finally put his trust into another, even if he did have a one-track mind, and was extremely dense and naive.
The Black Sheep of the Uchiha Clan indeed...