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Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

"What do you mean you're ill?" Mikoto sounded incredulous.

"I have a cold." He let out a weak cough from under the thick duvet that he'd bundled himself into.

"Really?" His aunt was no fool; raising three boys (and in particular Obito) had taught her a lot. "You were fine yesterday."

"I had no appetite!" He most definitely had not felt like eating after being told the most unfriendly person he knew had a crush on him.

"That's true…" Her certainty was wavering. It took a lot to put Obito off of his food. "Hmm…"

"I'll be fine if I sleep a bit." This really meant he was going to wait until she left and then grab a game console of some variety.

"I could phone the school…" Inwardly he started celebrating. Obviously he couldn't stand up while she was there. "But you still need to go to work."

"But what if I'm still unwell?!" That was even worse than school. He'd be stuck alone with Kakashi. He'd barely survived the rest of the shift at work yesterday.

"I'm fairly certain you'll be fine." The hard edge to her voice showed there was no chance of any change.

"Maybe…" Shit. I should not have done this so many times. He'd wasted all his previous skiving opportunities and now he needed it, Mikoto was no longer fooled.

At least everyone else was soon out, leaving him alone. Mikoto always went shopping on a Wednesday and Fugaku would be working. The house would be his. It meant he'd have some time to decide what to do when he saw Kakashi this afternoon.

The boy liked him. Him. Incredibly awkward, weird, nerdy, stupid Obito. And he had done for a while, even whilst, apparently, hating him. Now he had never considered his sexuality before. He could recognise a cute girl but he'd never considered guys. But Kakashi…

Oh shit! Rin! His friend had liked Kakashi a lot. And now he knew he was part of the reason she had been rejected. It wasn't his fault since he hadn't known, but still. Though I guess he is gay anyway so… Poor Rin. She has shit taste.

A lot of females apparently found Kakashi attractive. And this was something that irritated the masked boy. Obito couldn't understand why he didn't just come out with it. That would certainly stop girls from bothering him. But then, clearly he had a lot of hang ups too.

And he likes me… Obito's face began to get hot and the nausea rose up in his chest. What was he supposed to say to this? He didn't know how he felt. That was probably part of the reason he was so conflicted. He didn't think he was attracted to guys, but he didn't want to turn him down either.

I don't know what to do! The only person he could think of who would give him good advice was Rin and he was not planning on telling her about any of this. Anko would rip into him and Ibiki would be clueless. Dealing with it alone wasn't good either.

Dwelling on it for too long led to a deepening depression and so he grabbed a console and sat on it for a few hours, stuffing his face with any snack foods within reach. At heart he could be a bit of a coward and so he preferred to bury his head in the sand over dealing with things properly. The problem was, he could not stop the inevitable march of time. All too soon, his aunt was home and up in his room.

"Well don't you look better? I guess you should be getting ready for work." That smile was a dangerous one. It suggested pain to all who disobeyed.

"…Aunt Mikoto?" He was clearly desperate. For no other reason would he be doing this.

"What is it?" He would not be able to persuade her to let him skip work but perhaps she could give him some advice.

"I-I need some help."

"What's wrong?" Instantly she was on the bed, a look of concern on her face.

"…Someone told me that they loved me and I don't know what to do!"

"Oh Obito!" She threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "Have you got yourself a girlfriend?"

"No! No, I haven't replied."

"Well who is it? Rin? Anko?"

"No! They are my friends!" Images of Anko confessing made him shudder.

"Who was it? Anyone I know?"

"…Kakashi." He waited for the response.

"Really? I didn't know you liked boys."

"I don't!"

"Oh… So Kakashi has a one-sided crush on you?"

"Yes!" Sometimes this woman could be an awkward pain in the ass.

"Well I'm not surprised. You two are very cute with each other." He gave her a look of horror.

"But I've never been into guys! I don't know what I think of this…"

"I see… And so you are trying to avoid him."

"Pretty much."

"What do you think you feel?"

"I don't know! He threw it at me, which was sort of my fault since I was nagging at him to try it with whoever it was he had a crush on. And then I fainted and I keep thinking about it and it is slowly destroying my brain!" Losing it? Not at all.

"Obito… Be honest and talk to him. And put it into perspective. It is not the end of the world." She ruffled his hair.

"Ok… Thanks…"

"No problem. And Obito." She smacked him hard on the head. "No more skiving because you're a dumbass!"

It was so nice to have supportive family members. Although dreading this, he couldn't avoid it now. He'd be dragged to the counter if he tried to run. And so he slowly made his way to the shop, feeling very much like a man walking to his execution.

Kakashi was sat behind the counter with a book and barely glanced up as Obito waked in. When he sat down, he got a nod and a slight grunt. Probably he felt just as awkward. More so in fact, since he was the one who had bared his soul.

"Kakashi?" Probably it was a bad idea to do this when they were stuck together for a few hours but he wasn't thinking. He just wanted to get it out of his system.

"You don't need to worry about it."

"About what?"

"The fact that you don't like me." Obito started spluttering. He should have known.

"I.. I'm s-."

"You don't need to apologise. Just because I like you doesn't mean you have to return my feelings." It was clear Kakashi was unhappy but he was trying.

"Oh…" This made him feel worse. It wasn't his fault but… "Why did it have to be me?"

"It's not like you can choose."

"But I could have helped you! I can't do anything with this!" He'd promised to help him for fuck's sake!

"It's my problem Obito."

"…You want to be my friend still, right?"

"Yes." Well that was a relief. They'd only just become friends, he didn't want to lose that already. Kakashi chuckled slightly.

"What?"

"You said you'd help me." And he was back to blushing.

"Well I didn't know!"

"I hid it well… I notice you skipped school to avoid me." His eyebrow was raised.

"I wasn't avoiding you! I feel like a useless idiot, ok? I can't act normal."

"And how do you think I feel?"

"…Ok, you have it worse. But… Ugh! Why did it have to be the guy that Rin liked?"

"…What was that?" This sparked more of a reaction.

"Well she'd be really upset if she knew." He sighed. And then he noticed that Kakashi was staring at him.

"So… What if Rin had never shown an interest in me? What if it was just me confessing to you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Just curious." His mind had gone blank.

"Well… I mean… she likes you. Or liked you."

"And if she didn't?"

"I guess that would make it less of a problem?"

"I see…"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I wanted to know."

Obito stared at the floor. He'd not really thought about that. It would still be kind of weird of course since he was his friend.

"Stop confusing me!" And he slammed his head into the counter. Kakashi just watched. His mood was improved even if Obito's wasn't.

"You're confusing yourself."

"Oh fuck you."

Although they passed a quiet few hours at work, Obito still felt kind of awkward. Having someone love you was a fucking weird thing. It made it hard to talk to him. When they got to the end of the shift, Obito was exhausted from trying to be sociable.

"Obito…" He looked over. Kakashi put his book down and removed the mask. "Be normal. For you anyway,"

"I'll try?"

"Good. And another thing." Obito was about to ask what it was, along with why he'd removed the mask, when Kakashi kissed him. He'd been told he wouldn't be pressured. Well this felt like pressure to him.

"What are you doing that for?!"

"I wanted to try it. Just once." He pulled the mask back up. "I guess you were ok." The shock at being kissed was overtaken by indignation.

"Ok? You surprised me!"

"I wouldn't have gotten a kiss from you otherwise." This annoyed him. It didn't matter of course, but still. Obito grabbed the stupid mask, yanked it down and kissed him back. This hadn't been a good idea, he'd just been pissed off.

"There. Screw you!" He was going red but he was still indignant.

"…It could be argued that you're giving off mixed signals."

"I know! And so are you! I just… I need fresh air!" And he dashed out the door, grabbing his stuff as he went.

Why did I do that? I am a fucking moron!