Tobi's hand trembled on the handle of the door to his father's hospital. He had finally built up courage to visit his parents. It had been years since he saw them last after he went to live with his grandmother but having to learn that the next place he would see them again was in an hospital and on their almost death beds was devastating.

Kakashi, noticing his anxiety, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, silently encouraging him to go in. The teen inhaled and slid the door of the VIP room open. He did not know what he expected to see but what he was met with had his breath stilling with forming tears behind his eyes.

Even if Kakashi spent most hours of his day brooding in front of Obito before Iruka persuaded him to go back to teaching, he still had not gotten used to seeing how injured his best friend really was. He had taken the most impact of the accident, the falling stage landing on and crushing the right side of his body.

His right leg from his knee was completely obliterated along with the whole of his right arm. His torso was not left unaffected but his internal organs thankfully sustained minimal damage. His face though was violently scarred forever and his black hair turned white from the strain.

As Kakashi watched as Tobi bawled expressively, repeating his apologies for not visiting sooner over and over again – he was his normal self for the time being – Kakashi could not help but think back on how the boy was created.

• years before now... •

"Bakakashi!"

Kakashi did not hinder the irritated groan that pushed past his masked lips as the unfortunately familiar voice of his self proclaimed rival reached his ears. One would think he would leave Kakashi alone especially with the cold shoulder he treated the other with but Obito kept bugging him.

Kakashi was pretty sure it was because of Rin though. Rin was the third person in their trio and... Obito's crush. He had once stumbled upon the Uchiha kissing Rin's picture so he was sure that Obito liked to bug him because it seemed that Rin was into him.

What a bother. Kakashi was not interested in anybody if their name didn't begin with Icha Icha.

The three of them, he, Obito and Rin were all private students of the Fire Nation Award winner, Namikaze Minato. It used to be only Kakashi before the other two joined. This was because after Kakashi decided that being a pianist like his father didn't suit him, he became enthralled with dancing and Minato, being his father's friend, was ready to teach him.

They all became a family rather quickly, Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san. The older two were like parents he never had, they being so welcoming and always there for him especially since his father's passing.

Maybe it was because of his general aloofness, despite noticing how very...closer Obito and Rin seemed to have gotten as they grew– they were pretty close as they were childhood friends, the news came as a shock to him. Obito and Rin were dating.

He was happy for them, more or less, but that did not stop him from being mad at the both of them when after some years later, Rin announced that she was pregnant. She had told him privately because she was afraid to tell anybody else, especially Obito for fear of what they might think.

Kakashi was never one to mince his words so he blatantly scolded her and Obito despite the raven's absence. "What were you two thinking?!" He had yelled angrily that day. "You're teenagers for crying out loud, how would you take care of it?! What would your parents do?! What would happen to you now?!"

Rin cried that day. He remembered how he had hugged her after realising that he came off as too harsh and revealed that he was only very worried for the both of them. In the end, Rin told Obito and the idiot was happy to have a child with the woman he loved, albeit very scared because they were still practically teenagers.

All was good until Rin was disowned by her parents for bringing shame to her family. Obito was livid at her so called parents for throwing out a pregnant girl on the streets but there was no way he could accommodate her, not when he was also facing the same challenge with his parents for making a mistake.

His parents wanted Rin to terminate the child and neither of them wanted that, so Kakashi was the one to take them in since he lived alone in his father's house. They all lived together until Kushina-sensei found out the truth. She had a suspicion but she was waiting for Rin and Obito to come out by themselves.

Since everything had gone out of hand, she took Rin in but not without a word lash to her parents first. They didn't have to send a defenseless girl packing because of a mistake.

The day Tobi was born was a very eventful one. Kakashi and Obito were practicing their dance steps when the call from Kushina-sensei arrived that Rin was in labour. Kakashi sprained his knee because Obito, in his hurry, pushed him off the practice bar.

No hard feelings though. He was just happy to finally see his child, weird as that sounded. Their baby's gender was a surprise to them because Rin wanted to keep the suspense rolling so they didn't check what gender it was during the ultrasound scan. And besides Obito and Kakashi bet on the gender.

It was a boy. A perfect tiny Obito lookalike. Kakashi lost. "What's his name?" He would have been ashamed of how voice cracked when he asked the couple that question but seeing the tiny creature snuggling into Obito's chest was so overwhelming that he forgot about being his usual cool self at the moment.

"We haven't decided yet. We wanted to see him first." Rin replied tiredly from where she was. An exhausted but very happy smile adorned her face as Kushina-sensei carried the little boy from Obito's arms and started fussing about how cute he was. Kakashi didn't carry him because he didn't know how to hold babies and Minato-sensei was nervous that he would drop the child. Chickens, both of them.

"Heh," a smug grin lit Obito's face. "Let's name him Tobi."

"Tobi?" Almost everyone in the room echoed questioningly.

"Yup. When you keep saying Tobi repeatedly, you would end up saying Obito and vice versa. It's a perfect name for my doppelganger." The raven announced confidently.

Kakashi only deadpanned. "Narcissistic much?"

Obito bristled at that and pointed accusingly at his friend. "Oi! He's MY baby, isn't he?! Any name I give him is perfect!" He argued defensively.

Kakashi was about to retort when Rin spoke up with a soft laugh. "Tobi. I like that name." She said.

"At least you didn't name him Madara." Minato-sensei teased the young father. He was there when Obito was fussing over names to give the child when they came and Obito had wanted to name them after the Uchiha patriarch.

"Or Salad for that matter." Kakashi added. Obito had wanted name his child Sarada if it were a girl.

The young father groaned. "Stop ganging up on me!" He whined and everyone laughed. The nurse eventually shooed them away from the room when Tobi needed to feed.

Tobi grew up with utmost care and love from his family. Kakashi got roped into being Tobi's godfather– not that he was complaining but as the years grew by and Obito and Rin became professional ballerinas, his time spent with the child got cut short. Obito's grandmother offered to take care of the boy till his parents had stable lives.

Unfortunately, the accident at the Grand Opera House occurred before that could happen. Tobi's body tried to handle the trauma by creating another personality that was carefree and childish, and probably with memories from when his parents were still well and safe.

There were times Tobi slipped back into his normal self especially on days that he was particularly reminded of his parents. Kakashi had learned to tell the difference in the small amount of time they had spent living together. He didn't treat either of Tobi's personalities any differently.

If by some miracle, Tobi's visit was what Obito and Rin needed to come out of their vegetative states, Kakashi would not deny how happy he would be that day. For his friends and for his godson.

Xxx melody xxX

Neji could tell fairly well by now when Tenten was injured. Her injuries were not rhythmical but they were consistent enough to know when she had one or not. The Hyuga ignored it for the most part, but in some cases she was just too injured to ignore.

It was a Saturday and the two of them were at the town's local library studying. It was Neji's idea to meet up there for study sessions since they became partners for the mentor-mentee stuff. Well Neji was studying. Tenten, however, had a faraway look on her face.

The girl gazed at the exercise he had given her for minutes without blinking and while he would have normally bopped her head to pay attention, Neji could not bring it in himself to do that. She was slouching. Well Tenten slouched on every normal day but today's was bad. She couldn't sit up.

Other than her slouch, the bags of exhaustion over her eyes were getting prominent as the days passed. He feared that they would grow to be as bad as Gaara's if she continued this way. She was also very tense all morning like she was shying away from something, not to mention how clearly hungry she was if her stomach's wamble was anything to go by. What was wrong with her?

His book slammed closed, effectively jolting her out of her dazed state, and Neji arose, packing his bag. "I forgot an important material to teach you with at home. Come on, let's go." That was casual, right? He didn't make it too obvious that he was inviting her over to the Hyuga mansion basically because for some strange reason he wanted to feed her, right?!

Tenten's scowl was predicted and well utilized enough to have gotten used to so it didn't faze Neji when she practically cursed him with her eyes as he dragged her out of the library. He had ordered for a taxi moments prior and fortunately one was in the area so it was waiting for them outside the library.

"Where the hell are you dragging me to, Rapunzel?!" Here comes the complaints. "Forgetting to bring something, coming from you, is too farfetched for even a three year old to believe!" And the exaggeration. "Let me out of here! Driver stop!" And the protests.

Neji almost knew Tenten like the back of his hands already. "Driver don't." He commanded the man at the driver's seat. Tenten struggled, even opened the door (thank God for child lock) and voiced her protest as loud as her girly voice could go but Neji managed to hold her back.

The driver thankfully minded his business so there were no extra troubles from that end. They finally got to Kaguya Avenue. Tenten was quiet; she had been for the past five minutes and this had Neji wondering what was wrong. A look of realisation washed over his face as he saw Tenten gritting her teeth and subtly clenching her torso. She must've hurt herself even more with her struggle.

The way she took in his house with child-like wonder amused Neji. It was too bad he could not take her on a tour, at least not yet, so he led her to the front door which was automatically opened for him by a servant. "Welcome back home, young master Neji. Would you like anything?" The servant asked.

"No thank you." Neji replied politely. "I would be in my room with her for now, please inform my sisters not to disturb when they get back." If Neji was aware of how compromising he made that sentence sound, he kept an awfully good poker face even as the servant's own bloomed with misunderstanding.

Neji led Tenten up many stairs till they finally reached his room. It was twice bigger than Tenten's whole apartment, and it still managed to be blander than her very bland house. There were no decorations of any sort or pictures save for one small one on the bed stand. Other than the furniture, Neji's room was empty.

"Nice room, it looks like a cell." Said Tenten sarcastically which had Neji chuckling. Before she had time to be amazed by the sound though, Neji had schooled in his facial expressions and stopped laughing. He fumbled with a reclining chair at a corner in the room for a bit before beckoning her.

"Sit here for the meantime while I look for the material." Was the only instruction he gave before disappearing outside the room.

Tenten used the opportunity to explore the place, bland as it was. The small picture at the stand was of a man at a woman whom she assumed to be Neji's parents, and chibi Neji himself looking cuter than his grown up counterpart. She giggled at the picture and wandered into his private toilet. She could build her house and still have lots of space left with the size of it.

Tenten snooped around his shampoo and hair products. So this was why Neji's hair looked and smelled nice every day! Must be good to be rich. She soon got bored with Neji's room and went back to the chair to sit. Man was she tired.

The girl let out a drawn moan when the chair began to add pressure to the knots that weighed down her body. So this was one of those massaging chairs! Tenten was glad that Neji was not around to hear the embarrassing sound she made earlier, he never would have let her live it down.

The teen could feel herself getting closer and closer to sleep despite how hard she tried to keep herself awake. She could have stood up from the chair but her body felt like jello- it was difficult when she was receiving a good massage. Where was Neji? If he did not come back soon...her eyes closed and opened blearily...she would...they closed again...she would...and they didn't open back.

The next time Tenten opened her eyes, she was on the softest material she had ever slept on and was the most well rested she had ever been for ages. The pain in her torso had reduced to a distant hum and a pair of purplish eyes were staring down at her.

Wait, what?

Tenten could not even jump back with how bleary she was so she opted to stare at those pupil-less eyes instead. They belonged to somebody with luscious brown hair and a very pretty face– Neji's younger sister no doubt. "Are you Neji-nii's girlfriend?" The girl asked.

Still very bleary from exertion, Tenten replied, "yeah." And then she realised what she said and the sleep was magically erased from her eyes. "What?! No! I would never date a jerk like Rapunzel!" She sprang up in a fit of denial but the younger girl was far gone in her own world.

"Neji-nii was holding out on us! He didn't tell us that he had a girlfriend or that she was so cute!"

Tenten blushed unwittingly at the girl's words. "I'm cute? Have you looked into the mirror lately?" She retorted and the girl grinned, blushing. "How did I get to the bed by the way? I was on that chair before I fell asleep." Indeed she was on Neji's bed.

Her words excited a squeal out of the younger sister's lips. "Squeee! This means that Neji-nii carried you! That is so romantic, I wish I could have seen it!" Tenten's blush was either from the realisation that Neji carried her bridal style in her sleep or the girl's words. Poor girl got the situation all wrong. "I'm Hanabi! What's your name?"

"The name's Tenten."

"Tenten!" Hanabi squealed louder this time. "You and Neji-nii are a match from heaven! Your name even means Heaven Heaven!"

Before Tenten could die young of embarrassment her stomach made a very loud noise of complaint. Thankfully, Hanabi did not make it seem weird because she was instantly dragging her out of bed.

"Oh please stay with us for late lunch! Father is not around so there would be no nagging and it would be so much fun! Please! Please! Please!" Tenten had to give in to those puppy eyes, and besides who the hell refused free food?

Okay, Neji's cooking, she quits.

Unfortunately, Hanabi would not let her leave easily after she promised to stay. The girl didn't understand – Neji could have poisoned the food! Or worse, be a bad cook! It does smell delicious though, and Hanabi did not look pale so its worth a short, she guessed.

"Where's Hyuga 2.0?" Tenten asked after looking around for Hinata and not finding her.

"Nee-chan's out with her mentee, she'd be back soon." Hanabi informed. She gestured Tenten to sit at the table where Neji could be clearly seen doing his magic in the kitchen.

"Don't you think we should help?" Tenten asked uneasily. She didn't like it when she was too idle.

"Nope. Helping Neji-nii would only complicate matters so don't bother. He's a prissy drama queen." Hanabi giggled when an 'I heard that' came from the kitchen.

Tenten sighed with relief, she didn't know how to cook anyway. Her gaze shifted to Neji as he maneuvered through the kitchen like he was born in it. Looking at him from this angle was not that bad. His luscious brown locks was up in a man bun which made him look more mature than he did on a normal basis. The blue shirt he wore was rolled at the sleeves and over it was an apron which was tied just above his butt.

It looked...cute. His butt.

Tenten's face paled with horror at the direction her thoughts just took. Since when did she find butts cute?! Neji's butt no less?!

"Nii-chan is hot, isn't he? It's hard to believe he's just seventeen, right?"

Hanabi's sudden voice whispering in her ear had the poor girl choking on her own spit. Neji turned around, a curious look on his face, and Tenten quickly avoided his gaze to hide her massive blush. He did not just look like the most handsome being on earth just now and his butt was definitely not cute!

Hinata arrived at that moment, bless her soul, and restored normality to the household. When the food was finally ready, Hanabi suddenly remembered that she had to do something and dragged Hinata along to help with their plates in their hands. Yeah right. It was so obvious that they were leaving themalone!

"Thanks for the food." Tenten, surprisingly, had enough manners to appreciate for the food before digging in. Oh goodness, it was so good! But she didn't want to give Neji a swell head so she cleared her throat and said, "ahem. You're decent at least. Thought I was going to die at the first taste."

Neji simply rolled his eyes and started eating. They ate in silence which was not Tenten's forte so she brought up a conversation.

"So you're seventeen."

"What of it?" Neji asked.

"Nothing. I just didn't think somebody my age was in my grade. I don't think you repeated a grade so why are you still a freshman?" Tenten asked curiously.

"I got held back." Was Neji's vague answer.

"Wow, really educative." Tenten commented cynically.

Neji sighed. "Personal question." He informed but instead of Tenten backing down, she only grinned.

"I think we've gone past personal things Neji. You treated the injury on my belly, didn't you?" It was why she no longer felt the pain as strongly as she did before. He treated her injury while she was asleep.

"Touché." Neji actually smiled at her and if that wasn't the most beautiful thing she had seen today other than him in an apron (or his butt, her subconscious unhelpfully provided) Tenten didn't know what else was.

She squashed those feelings and pointed her chopsticks at him. "So start talking."

I updated, let's throw a party!

Somebody asked how old Obito and Rin was when they had Tobi. I honestly didn't give it much thought until now but let's make them eighteen when Rin became pregnant and nineteen when they had Tobi.

Favorites and reviews are deeply appreciated. Thanks for reading!

-Star.