A/N: Written for the Switched Personalities prompt of KakaObiWeek 2020

Thank you to my beta reader, Birkastan2018, for their insight and encouragement.

I do not own these characters; I'm having a wonderful time switching them around from their canon selves.

Part 1

Though he'd only been gone for forty-eight hours, Konoha was not the same place when Obito returned to it. From the moment he'd checked in at the village gate, comrades and civilians alike looked at him pityingly, and then diverted their eyes from his when they were caught. His anxiety grew as he neared the Hokage tower to report to Lord Third.

And when he left it again, Obito was in shock.

He neither remembered nor cared if he gave a complete report of his most recent mission, and it seemed the Hokage was no longer concerned with the details anyway. Not when he had to inform Obito that Shisui Uchiha had been found dead and that Kakashi and Itachi had abandoned the Leaf Village.

Obito staggered through the streets of Konoha as a weight settled in his stomach and grew heavier with each step. He looked without seeing, heard without listening; he could hardly breathe as he surrendered to wherever his feet chose to take him. They delivered him in front of Rin's grave, where he stood still, numb, and blinking dry eyes at the name of his childhood friend etched into the Memorial Stone.

Rin Nohara had proved to be the hero of their team. She transplanted one of Obito's Sharingan eyes into Kakashi, allowing the latter to wield chidori with the necessary precision to destroy a boulder which had pinned half of Obito beneath it. Then, she was relentless in her efforts to heal him until he could continue as a shinobi and pursue his dream of becoming Hokage. After her abduction and the forced implant of the Three-Tails, Rin proved to be a hero to the entire village when she forfeited her life before she could be used to destroy the Hidden Leaf.

Rin's loss was devastating to the remaining members of Team Minato and Kakashi the most. Rin had chosen to die at his hand, even as Obito had begged her not to. She had slipped from his grasp, threw herself upon Kakashi's lightning blade, and as they both watched in horror, the Mangekyo formed in their shared pair of Sharingan eyes. The newly-acquired visual prowess couldn't help Kakashi find his way out of the darkness, and when their sensei assumed the position of Hokage, he assigned Kakashi to a role that would keep him there.

It was one of the few times that Obito questioned the Yellow Flash, and it remained unresolved as Namikaze perished shortly thereafter as well. Only Kakashi and Obito remained then, burdened with Minato and Rin's hopes and dreams as well as their own. They cycled through blame, anger, and isolation before they could meet as friends again. Then, they had become something infinitely more dear.

Despite Obito's protests, Lord Third insisted on keeping Kakashi in the shadows of the ANBU, even promoting him to captain of his own squad within it. Obito worried about what Kakashi might know and never be allowed to speak of regarding Konoha's inner workings. Many nights were spent wondering if the man in his arms was sleeping as soundly as he appeared to be. However, even in his worst waking nightmares, he never thought that Kakashi would abandon both himself and the Leaf.

Obito realized his face was wet before he registered that it was his own tears that made it so.

'Crybaby,' Kakashi's baritone echoed softly in his ears, and Obito dropped to his knees, clutching his chest, unable to breathe knowing that without his teammates and his lover, he was suddenly more alone than he ever had been. The figure of an ANBU agent materialized from the trunk of a nearby tree and approached him.

"Easy now, look at me," the man's compassionate voice was in direct contrast to the maniacal painted wildcat face he wore.

The ceramic mask did nothing to improve Obito's condition. The agent seemed to realize it and removed it before speaking again. "Breathe in, slowly now. Count with me; one, two, three, four, five. Now, breathe out; one, two, three, four, five."

With the mask gone, Obito recognized the man beneath it as a member of Kakashi's squad. He didn't know the agent's name or even his codename, but the man's warm almond-shaped eyes conveyed sincere concern. Within minutes, Obito was breathing easier again.

"You're not here by chance; you were waiting for me," Obito panted out. "You know something."

"I know a little," the agent corrected him, "enough that I'm unable to accept that Kakashi-senpai must now be my enemy."

The agent's words were of little comfort, and Obito winced at them. "But you're not going to tell me, are you?"

The ANBU opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, another man called out, "Obito!"

Obito turned his head in the direction of the voice he heard in time to see Sakumo Hatake rushing toward him. Then he stopped, narrowed his eyes, and he addressed the ANBU agent in the coldest, menacing tone Obito had ever heard from the man. "You get away from him."

"Look underneath the underneath," the agent whispered, hurriedly, as the wrath of the White Fang came nearer to them. "When you're ready, meet with Kakashi in Kamui's Dimension. And Obito, do not ever-under any circumstance-allow yourself to be alone with Danzō Shimura."

The agent disappeared before Sakumo reached them, and he scowled briefly before turning his attention to Obito. "I'm so sorry. I meant to meet you at the gate, Obito. This must have been a terrible shock to you," he spoke as he helped Obito to his feet. "It's been a terrible shock to me," he choked on the admission.

Obito felt his face crumple as he took in the diminished countenance of Sakumo Hatake. Even as he was being helped to his feet, he wished to comfort the man who was both his hero and the closest thing he had to a father. "There has to be more than meets the eye here, Hatake-san."

"Yes. You're correct, and I do believe that. Oh, but Obito," Sakumo lifted one hand to squeeze Obito's shoulder, "forgive my selfishness. We've both suffered a loss."

"I'm not willing to write Kakashi off, Hatake-san, not yet. But, and I hate to ask this of you—"

"You're staying with me, for now, Obito," Sakumo interrupted him, and Obito almost collapsed with relief. "You can't access your apartment right now, and Kakashi's is—well. Gai has brought some of your things to my home."

The two men stood up together, bracing each other as they did. "We have to look underneath the underneath," Obito repeated the ANBU agent's advice to him, "and until I've seen everything, I won't believe what people say of him."

"Thank you, Obito, I know that you love him, and I know that he loves you. There has to be a reason," Sakumo's hands curled into fists.

Obito nodded, shock beginning to fade, and the scope of the sudden changes in Konoha and his life became clearer.

Sakumo shook his head, "I'm sorry, let's take this one step at a time. Let's get some dinner in you, I've barely eaten myself, and we'll move on from there." His eyes sought Obito's.

"We haven't lost everything yet, and certainly not hope."