My decision to write "Moving parts come undone" through a different character's point of view each chapter meant that there were a lot of little bits and pieces that I had to leave out of the story. Here are some of them. This story is also posted on AO3 under the username Mellise.

Story/chapter titles taken or inspired by lines from the poem "Insomnia" by Dana Gioia

He doesn't want to leave them here, but there's little that Obito can do. As much as it agonizes him, as much as it makes him want to scream his frustrations into the night sky, Obito still recognizes that he can in no way take Rin and Kakashi with him. He only wants to pay his respects and lay them to rest, but no one can know that he was here.

Obito isn't beholden to anyone anymore, but Rin and Kakashi are. Or rather, they were.

His former teammates were here on a mission, which means that there will be shinobi looking for them once Konoha realizes that they haven't returned. And Rin and Kakashi became a part of Kiri's mission as well, so their shinobi will almost certainly be heading over too. It's just a matter of who gets to them first.

But Obito can't do anything about it. If either of the retrieval teams arrives and finds Rin's and Kakashi's bodies missing, it'll raise no shortage of questions. And Obito isn't willing to enlighten them with answers just yet, not when he has so much to do.

So he tells himself, he'll only observe. Absolutely no interference on his part.

Kiri is the first to arrive. It's to be expected, really. Their shinobi were right at the forefront of the Three Tails's rampage while Konoha likely hasn't even realized what's happened yet.

Perched on the branches of a nearby tree, Obito watches as the faintly skittish Kiri nin traverse through the crushed forest. He passively seethes as the team scouts the perimeter of the clearing, drawing closer and closer to his friends. Still appearing somewhat agitated, the shinobi carefully approach the two small bodies lying in the center. Obito manages to remain in his place at first. At least that's the case until he sees one of the Kiri nin reach quite deliberately towards Kakashi's left eye.

How dare they.

Zetsu had in fact urged him to reclaim Kakashi's Sharingan earlier, but Obito had refused vehemently. He doesn't care that reuniting the two eyes would multiply his power immeasurably, a gift is still a gift. What kind of person would he be to take it back? After all, Kakashi had lost his own eye while acting in Obito's defense. And now that a cruel twist of fate has left him the team's sole survivor, it is up to Obito to see the world in his stead.

The Sharingan belongs with Kakashi.

Brimming with cold fury, Obito finds himself in front of the Kiri nin before they've even had the chance to make another move. The three of them recoil in surprise at both his sudden presence and his bizarre appearance. They retreat immediately towards the woods, and he falls into pursuit. While this goes completely against his earlier commitment to remain hidden, Obito can hardly bring himself to care.

So what if these Kiri nin see him? All he has to do now is ensure that the would-be thieves don't leave this clearing alive. And it should be easy enough to end them given his recently developed gifts.

His Mangekyō, the advanced stage of his Sharingan that had awakened following his teammates' deaths, grants him the ability to become intangible at will. In the back of his mind, Obito suspects that his power goes beyond turning into an apparition, rather it feels as though his body is leaving the physical realm itself.

He supposes that little detail doesn't matter now. Either way, he'll have plenty of time to experiment with that later.

The Kiri nin are utterly helpless against an opponent like him. Obito dissipates through their attacks like they were never there, relishing the look of growing panic on their faces. Dispatching them only requires several precise stabs aimed at a few of the most vulnerable points of the body. The heart, lungs, spinal cord, descending aorta, and carotid artery are among them. The Kiri nin try fruitlessly to stem the flows of gushing blood as they collapse lifelessly onto the ground. Obito watches their dying struggles and vaguely remembers the occasions in which he would try to help Rin study her medical texts.

Their bodies go still in a matter of minutes. As Obito doesn't want to leave the dead Kiri nin so close to where Rin and Kakashi rest, he gathers their bloody corpses and drops them unceremoniously in the woods just outside of the clearing.

Let Kiri draw their own conclusions.

Not long after, Konoha approaches next. And to his surprise, the retrieval team is led by none other than his former sensei. Minato, along with two shinobi that Obito doesn't recognize, examine the area swiftly but methodically as they progress towards the clearing.

Obito witnesses the exact moment Minato is confronted with the macabre scene of his last two students, and he can't help but feel a sense of bitter satisfaction upon seeing his old sensei's face crumple in pain at the sight.

Serves him right. He was never there when it mattered.

Where was Minato when Obito was trapped under the stones, struggling to breathe and unable to see? Where was he when Rin had the Three Tails sealed into her? Where was he when Kakashi was gored through by the tailed beast?

Where was he when his students were dying?

He'd been so foolish before, thinking that outstanding shinobi like Minato could make the world a better place. Obito knows the truth now. The world is a cruel, broken one, and there is no fixing it. He'll burn it all down instead to create a better world, a perfect world, one where Rin and Kakashi will always be by his side.

And his former sensei is a representation of everything that's wrong with this world. A famed war hero, but one that is ultimately a helpless pawn in the grand scheme of things. So earnest in his beliefs, but utterly ineffectual when it comes to protecting the ones in his care.

Despite his feelings of hostility, Obito allows Minato and the others to pass unhindered. At this point, they are the lesser of all the evils. He can trust, if nothing else, that Konoha won't desecrate his teammates' bodies. So Obito watches as the three separate Rin and Kakashi before sealing them into storage scrolls. All the while, he can see how Minato struggles to hide his expression of despair.

Obito supposes that this is the only reason he isn't interfering with their efforts, the fact that Minato had at the very least cared for Rin and Kakashi. They'll be treated respectfully in his hands while the Kiri shinobi are the reason why his teammates are gone in the first place.

Before finally heading on their way, Minato had gently opened Kakashi's left eye to confirm that the Sharingan was still there. This was yet another reason behind Obito's refusal to reclaim the eye. Had either Kiri or Konoha found the dōjutsu to be missing, it would've sparked accusations and investigations that he just can't afford right now.

Although Obito presumes that Kiri will certainly be asking questions now after what he's done to their shinobi. He almost feels smug at the thought of their baffled reactions. Once they learn of the retrieval team's fate, Kiri will be bound to send more in search of answers.

And Obito will be waiting for them.

A little insight into Obito's mind after experiencing the shock of Rin's and Kakashi's deaths.