—-
After wandering the halls, Obito eventually found himself outside the hospital entrance. The sun was just beginning its slow afternoon descent. The burning heat felt soothing on his skin. He squinted his eyes for a second, and then noticed Rin and Minato-sensei heading toward the entrance. He had let them know where Kakashi was right after arriving at the hospital. After that, while waiting outside the room, he'd quickly finished writing the rest of his mission report that he'd been so rudely interrupted from by the enemy ninja, and subsequently left to turn it in (Of course he had found the Hokage tower; he forgot it was just two blocks from the hospital). The more accurate, detailed spoken report would have to wait until Kakashi was better.
"Obito!" Rin called. She herself had returned from a particularly difficult mission just the day before along with Kurenai, Ibiki and Chouza-sensei. Having a medic-nin around was an especially rare occurrence these days, and they were very carefully assigned to platoons. "Are you okay?" she asked as she approached him, quickly looking him over.
"Aa," he assured, grinning nervously, trying to hide his badly scratched hands. This is nothing compared to what I let happen to Kakashi. He thought about the several cuts all over his arms, and then suddenly remembered the gash below his collarbone. His eyes widened at realizing it was exposed. Without thinking, his hand reached up to cover it before Rin took proper notice of the bloodstain under his shirt; however, he missed the slight frown that appeared on his jounin sensei's face.
The look of relief on her face changed at the lack of mention of their other teammate. "...Kakashi...?"
His face fell a bit. "That is...he is okay, but...it's hurts a lot."
"I see," she replied quietly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. She smiled softly at his concern. With that, she thanked him and left, heading inside to check on the ninja in question.
Left alone, Obito reluctantly looked toward his sensei. He could not read what was in the man's eyes. He turned away.
When he met his young student's eyes, Minato could not help but notice the shame all over his face. "Obito." A soft smile graced his lips when the boy turned back around at the mention of his name, but then turned serious. "Are you really okay?"
The boy kicked a small rock in front of him. It rolled for several feet and stopped abruptly, hitting the root of a large tree up ahead. "...No," he admitted. He moved the large goggles away from his eyes and settled them atop his messy black hair. "He's hurting...but...so am I," he said softly, his physical wounds not even crossing his mind. It was very difficult for him to say.
Minato hummed in understanding. "...Whatever happened—you're not to blame, Obito." He stepped forward. "What's important is that Kakashi is alive, and he will be just fine. Missions screw up all the time. Furthermore, we're in the middle of war. Expect things to go bad."
"But—" he emphasized, "This is also why you need to be prepared at all times. If it wasn't for the emergency antidote Rin had packed for you two, Kakashi would have died right then." Minato did nothing to soften his words. He watched a tear trickle down the boy's cheek and felt his own heart twist. "Yet it was still not enough, and that's why we are here. It is extremely important to pack everything—weapons, scrolls, medical kits. They exist for very good reasons. You cannot leaving the village without them." He relaxed his stance once he received a response, and remembered one of the important lectures he'd once given to Kakashi a few years ago.
"Hai," the boy replied solemnly. He noticed Rin exit the hospital doors and perform a gentle wave to him and Minato. He raised his hand in return and watched her leave in the direction of the Yamanaka flower shop. Obito's mind wandered back to Kakashi and his face grew wistful. Being rude nor pleasant seemed to make Kakashi like him. What would he have to do, then? Not being liked...especially by his own teammate...was painfully upsetting to him. Even his own family looked down on him. He was slow to learn the Gokakyuu no jutsu, and most of the shinobi in his family had already unlocked their Sharingan by his age.
"I'm sure Kakashi appreciates it."
Obito's head jerked up. What?
Minato's lip twitched. "Even though he may not show it, he doesn't hate you. Now go back in there and get treated, yourself."
The boy become agitated at him for noticing his wound. "But..."
Minato leaned down for a moment. "Kakashi hates hospitals, mm?" he whispered to the boy's ear as he walked by him to leave.
The boy widened his eyes, slowly realizing what his sensei was implying. A warm grin spread across his face. He leaped toward Minato as he was leaving and held him from behind, causing the jounin to stop in surprise and turn his head to look down at the happy boy. The Yellow Flash smiled warmly at the hug. There is something inside of him, that understands. He patted Obito's messy, wild hair and resumed his departure from the hospital grounds.
Obito...he is in the right direction.
—-
A/N: Oh, the irony. It burns a hole in my heart. :'(
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