Interlude: Obito
When Obito Uchiha was five years old, he took a walk to his favorite park. When he got there, he saw a boy with weird gray hair sitting in his favorite swing and reading. The word that first came to Obito's mind as he watched the kid was prickly. He reminded him of the hedgehog that he had found in his backyard last summer and he immediately wanted to know more.
"Hi! You're in my favorite swing, did you know that?" he asked the boy. Bored dark eyes glanced up at him before returning to his book.
"There are other swings," he stated. Obito stared at him, waiting for him to say more but that seemed to be it.
"My name is Uchiha Obito, what's yours?" he asked, smiling brightly. Those gray eyes looked up at him again, as if trying to figure out if he was crazy or not. The boy gave an annoyed huff before hopping down from the swing and walking away. He watched him go, he would try again another time. The hedgehog hadn't liked him at first either.
It took a long time for the boy, who introduced himself as Hatake Kakashi on their tenth meeting after Obito had followed him home, to come around to him. He had been elated when school started and the boy was there in his class, standing next to a tall man that had the same prickly looking hair but soft eyes.
"Who's your friend?" Kakashi's father asked.
"Uchiha Obito!" He introduced himself when the other boy just stared blankly at him.
"Ah, I should have known, another Uchiha," the man smiled and Obito couldn't help the flinch. It hadn't been said in an unkind way but he wasn't like his cousins, he wasn't super smart or had rich parents. He didn't have any parents at all, didn't even remember them, and he usually found himself on the sidelines in his own family, raised by his grandma in a small apartment. He knew his family name was important, but he didn't like to be compared to it.
"Nah," he blinked when Kakashi piped in, gray eyes watching him and he expected the boy to say something rude like usual. "He's not just another Uchiha Dad, I like him."
After that, Kakashi seemed to tolerate his presence more and more. Obito did most of the talking but he was fine with that, Kakashi was smart and he always got them out of trouble. The trouble that Obito usually caused but that was neither here nor there and he was proud to be his friend. Proud to be the one that Kakashi took the mask off around.
He felt protective of Kakashi, especially after the death of his father and he watched all those walls being built up once again.
"There's no way he said that," Obito scowled, pushing his hair back and looking at Rin, cringing as she sent him a glare over one of her biology textbooks. "Sorry, I mean Kakashi, there's no way he said he liked him," he frowned, Rin had told him about what his best friend had said at the party over a week ago but the thought remained in his head. His Kakashi didn't do crushes, Obito had lectured him on his general dismissiveness of other people numerous times and Kakashi always told him that it just wasn't worth the hassle.
"Obito," Rin groaned, placing her pencil down to mark her page. "I'm not having this conversation with you."
"Why not? It's not like I was there!" He whined, looking into her brown eyes.
"You're not making any sense, I thought you wanted him to find someone he liked?" She asked, taking her hand in his. She was right, of course, he wanted Kakashi to be happy and something had changed in his best friend over the last few months, starting when Naruto had chased them down in the quad.
"Leave the kid alone." That's what Kakashi had said at his aunt and uncle's party after he had caught whatever funny business was going on under the stairs.
"I did, I do," he corrected, running a hand through his hair, but he still felt uneasy. Naruto was great, and he had known him since he was barely out of diapers. He was loud and bright despite his uneasy life and it seemed like the kid didn't give up on anyone. That was the only reason he could think that the teen would be friends with his angsty cousin for so long. Maybe Naruto was perfect for him.
"Then what are you so worried about? Let it play out Obito," Rin gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "Besides you're getting ahead of yourself, they're not even together. Maybe Kakashi was just messing with me and just doing the right thing for the freshman."
"Maybe," Obito grumbled, sinking down in his seat as she turned back to studying. Maybe.
Rin was wrong, Obito decided, as he walked into a local greenhouse on his way to buy her flowers for a date and as a thank you, but he froze when he heard a familiar laugh.
"Maa, you do know you live in a twelve by nineteen-foot room, right? Where are planning on putting these things?" He heard Kakashi ask as he rounded the corner of an aisle. "Sasuke doesn't seem the type to like gardening."
"Just shut up and hold this for a second, would you? Why'd you follow me here anyway?" Naruto asked, and he saw him shove some small, leafy potted plant into Kakashi's arms, their backs partially to him.
"I had nothing else to do," his friend shrugged. "Wanted to make sure you didn't get lost."
"You're never going to let me live that are you?" The blonde grumbled, and Obito stiffened. What was he talking about? Had they done something like this before? Was this a date?! He shook his head, if Rin were here, she'd tell him to slow down, calm down, and listen. "Laugh it up bastard," Naruto was still talking, crouching down and touching the leaves of another plant.
"Why do I have the feeling I'm going to be confiscating this," Kakashi said, tipping the pot in his hands this way and that. "It already looks half dead." Naruto gasped dramatically, jumping to his feet and grabbing the plant back.
"Don't say that about Mr. Ukki! He'll be fine, he just needs someone to look after him, y'know?" The teenager pouted.
"It already has a name? You haven't even bought it yet." Obito ducked as Kakashi turned slightly, his eyes looking mildly amused.
"Well, I am now," Naruto growled, turning on his heel and heading towards check out. Obito watched as Kakashi hesitated, eyes following the blonde's back, and he held his breath until his best friend followed.
"What are you so worried about?" Rin had asked him and he hadn't had an answer, feeling silly over nothing. But now, after watching them and seeing the look in his best friend's eyes he knew what it was he was worried about. Someone, either Naruto or Kakashi, was going to end up hurt and he didn't want to see that happen.
AN
hello hello hello
very short chapter again (but that's the norm really with this one) but it has been a WHILE. sorry about that, since I've posted last I've moved and I actually wrote this chapter sitting in a hotel room.
Hopefully, I'll be back with this soon, I'm trying to update everything else as well.
Hope everyone is having a safe and happy summer
