.
.
This is a conversation Obito had with Rin when they were kids.
They were sitting at the bench again, Rin having packed an extra bento for him. It was Spirit Day and the year before, Obito was the only kid who didn't bring a bento. As an orphan, he also didn't have parents to come and cheer him on during the games, and so he sat in the middle of the festival, hungry and crying into his goggles.
"Here," Rin said. Obito gawked at her a moment; the bento was wrapped in a checked red handkerchief; when he opened the box, there were little octopuses she had carved out of sausages.
"What is that? Are you making a lunch for Kakashi?"
"No, it's for you, silly," Rin said smiling.
They ate lunch on the park bench. The day was warm and the sky was blue, and for some reason Rin was sitting next to him instead of her other friends. "Ne, Rin?" he said. He picked up an egg omelet with his chopsticks. "Did you make this for me because you like me or because I'm stupid?"
"Can't it be both?" Rin said.
She was always doing stuff like that. When Kakashi passed the chuunin exam - at a ridiculously young age, well ahead of everyone in their class - Rin high-fived him. When Obito passed, Rin ran up and hugged him.
"She's hugging you because she thought you wouldn't pass," Kakashi said, and Obito was depressed again.
Sometimes she held his hand. He'd be wandering somewhere, heading the wrong direction, and she'd clasp his hand and yank him toward her, yell at him to actually pay attention. Her hand would feel soft and warm and he wouldn't be able to think about anything else except her hand holding his.
It was nighttime, and they were sitting on the bench again. They were looking up the Hokage monument when he felt her fingers brush against his.
Obito blushed, then snatched his hand back, embarrassed and not wanting to bother her. But Rin caught his look, and she took his hand into hers and squeezed it. Then she leaned close and smiled at him.
"I'm glad that you're my friend," she said, and she cuddled him.
xXx
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"Did you know you always touched me like this when we were kids?" Obito says, Rin leaning against his chest, one hand drooping carelessly against his stomach. Rin sits up, frowning.
"I did?"
"All the time, you did." Obito hitches her closer. "You used to lean on my shoulder and hold my hand. I don't think you ever did that with Kakashi."
"Probably because I had a crush on him," Rin says.
She nurses the baby. Obito watches as she sits in the rocking chair, rocking and humming. Outside the sky has taken on that golden hue just before evening, and the room is filled with a yellow light. A lock of hair falls over her face as she leans over their baby.
"Shit," Obito says, and he wipes his eyes and looks away, embarrassed.
"Maybe you should start wearing goggles again," Rin says.
"Yeah." He sniffs and lets out a rueful laugh. "You're right, I probably should."