Chapter 12: Reminiscing
A/N:As of 6/13/2022, I made some minor updates to the chapter, including formatting corrections and a little extra detail sprinkled in.
"Do you see anything, Jitsuko?" Obito yelled, his voice barely reaching her ears as she surveyed the area from the top of a tree.
"If I saw anything, I would have said something, Obito," Jitsuko tried to yell back to him, knowing that her much softer voice would never reach him.
She began to climb down the tree while Obito continued to search near the trunk for any signs of Rin or Zetsu. Though he would never admit that he did so also to make sure she didn't fall and get hurt.
Once Jitsuko got close to the ground, she hopped off the tree and landed with a thud and a faint 'oof' which attracted Obito to her location. She hadn't noticed something falling out of her bag as it made only the faintest noise as it collided with the earth.
"Let's keep heading northeast," Jitsuko stated calmly. "I hear there's some area up there that has a lot of animal bones in it. Villains love graveyards and stuff like that, so I'd bet all my Ryo that they're sneaking around up there, somewhere."
Jitsuko lost track of exactly how long she and Obito spent wandering the fields. The terrain shifted constantly with the changing season, with the once lush green grass withering back into the earth. Each day grew bleaker, and Jitsuko chastised herself for watching the show and yet couldn't remember where Madara's hideout was located.
"It's getting late, though. We should take a break here for a while," she added. "I'll go grab us some water."
As she walked off, Obito started following her before something twinkling on the ground caught his eye.
"Huh…? Is that…?" he muttered and bent over to pick it up.
As Obito moved the object from its spot, it made a familiar ringing noise, one that made Jitsuko stop in her tracks and lightly gasp. Obito held the object closely to his face as he pieced together where he last saw it. It was a small plush of a bunny, her favorite animal. Its washed-out, matted fur was in her favorite color with a navy-blue bow wrapped around its neck. Dangling from it was a tiny bell that was so worn that it only made noise when roughly shaken.
"Hey, I remember this!" Obito exclaimed as he held the plush slightly above his head and rattled it, disturbing the bell.
"Be careful with it, Obito! The bell's really loose, it might fall off!" Jitsuko said and struggled to grab it out of his outstretched hand, his build towering over hers.
"I haven't seen this guy in years," he declared nostalgically as he gently inspected it before finally handing it back to her. "I don't think I've ever seen you with it, not since the day I got it for you. Have you been carrying it around with you?"
Obito's question sounded like he was mocking her, but he was genuinely curious as to why she had such an item on a mission like this. Jitsuko's cheeks flushed, embarrassed that Obito finally found out that she carried the stuffed animal he got for her wherever she went. Jitsuko couldn't lie, she took it with her on missions because the sound it made always soothed her. She loved to take it on especially long missions when she was away for the village for some time; it acted as a memento to remind her what she'd be coming home to. It also felt like she was taking a piece of Obito with her wherever she went.
"I – I don't think that's any of your business," Jitsuko managed to blurt out, cheeks still tinted pink.
Weak excuse.
"It totally is my business since I was the one who got it for you," he replied with a cocky grin.
The two had a silent staring contest for dominance in the conversation for a while before Jitsuko sighed and slumped against the tree behind her.
"Alright, alright. You win."
Those words never failed in bringing a smile to Obito's face.
"I started carrying it around with me on my birthday, the day you gave it to me," she said as Obito sat quietly against the tree next to her. "I remember that I had a mission that day, so we only had some time in the morning to hang out before I left the village…"
Memories of that day began flooding back as Jitsuko lightly stroked the coarse fur with her thumb…
"This is bullcrap! Why do I have to go on a mission on my birthday?!"
Jitsuko's voice echoed behind the door as she barged into her apartment to begin packing aggressively for a weeklong mission.
She was angrily stomping down the stairs after she finished when a knock on the door caused her steps to slow to a gentle patter. She opened the door and was surprised to see her best friend beaming down at her, as if he knew something she didn't. Still, Jitsuko was pleased that she got to see him before she had to leave.
"Hey, you!" she greeted Obito affectionately.
"Hey, there you are! You aren't usually home, usually you're anywhere but your apartment!" Obito said awkwardly. The smile glued to his face was just as awkward.
Jitsuko chuckled, leaning one arm against the doorframe. "Does that mean you've been looking for me for a while?"
Obito's face froze. Sweat began to form on his temples while his eyebrows were knitted in a way where it looked like he was caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing, with a wide, strained smile to accompany it.
"Nope, not that long, I just was passing by and thought that we could hang out today," he claimed with sweat still pouring off him.
Jitsuko's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Obito was trying to play it cool. That automatically meant he was up to something.
"Alright, what's the catch?"
Obito flinched, pretending to be offended. "C-catch? Can a guy not hang out with his best friend once in a while or something?"
It was then Jitsuko realized that she had impolitely left Obito standing at the doorway. She stepped aside, allowing him in.
"So did you have any plans in mind?" she asked, cocking a brow as he sat stiffly at the kitchen table.
Obito wasn't fully listening. He was fiddling with something under the table, his eyes averted to the floor.
"Alright, come on, Obito. I'll bite. What's eating at you?"
"N-nothing, Jitsuko! I don't know what you're talking about!" he insisted with his eyes shut, brows furrowed.
Uh, no. She wasn't going to play that game. Jitsuko had been around him long enough and had seen the show enough times to know what Obito's denial looked like, and this was it.
She recognized the signs; the tricky part was how to gently coax him to admit to whatever was bothering him…
…Or she could go with the direct approach. That sounded easier.
The high-pitched sound of her chair scraping against the floor filled the room as Jitsuko stood up without a word and made her way to where Obito was sitting. He lifted his eyes up to meet hers and got increasingly flustered as she approached him. That was when she bent down to his level, cupped his chin with her fingers, and forced him to look into her eyes.
"Obito. If you are able to say that nothing is wrong without looking away from me, then I will leave you be. If you can't, you have to tell me what's the matter right now."
Naturally, Obito lost.
"H-here," he murmured as he slid a small, decorated box across the table.
"This… is this…?"
"Yeah… happy birthday, Jitsuko," Obito said bashfully. He was physically unable to lift his eyes from the floor.
A warm, wonderful sensation fluttered in Jitsuko's chest, deeply touched that Obito went through all this trouble and struggled so hard to express his feelings in order to celebrate her birthday with her.
What made his actions even more stunning is that it truly was unexpected. Obito was never good with being on time. Another thing he struggled with was remembering special occasions. Obito had forgotten her previous birthdays; he even had trouble remembering his own half the time. The only way he'd often remember his own was when Jitsuko would treat him somewhere or presented him with a gift of his own. Obito realized that she never forgot his birthday. He also remembered how utterly disheartened she was when he didn't remember hers. He vowed never to see her that hurt again. He made sure to try extra hard to find something she'd like, to make up for the mistakes he made to her in the past.
Opening the box revealed a small stuffed version of a bunny in her favorite color. Its bell sounded loud and crisp as she curled her hands around it and lifted it up.
Jitsuko started with a hearty gasp. "Obito, I love it! What did I do to deserve you? You're the best!"
She couldn't contain the excitement in her voice; her words caused a fever-like blush to cross Obito's face as he squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment from her praise. Along with affection, another thing he lacked a great deal of in his childhood was compliments and praise. It was so rare; Obito never learned how to properly react to receiving it.
"Y-yeah, I saw it… and I thought you'd think it was cute. You like that type of stuff," he noted. He was also inclined to get it since he'd also thought it was adorable – just like her.
As Jitsuko held his gift up in the air in front of her, she happened to glance at the clock that was in the same direction and noticed that she was supposed to leave 20 minutes ago. With another sharp, albeit fearful gasp, Jitsuko began rushing to leave, but not before apologizing profusely to the Uchiha for having to cut her time with him short. She waved goodbye to her friend as she ran off to the gates while Obito was unaware that she snuck his gift with her, and would soon make it a habit of doing so.
"Heh, yeah. You were in such a rush that day," Obito said tiredly. The both of them began to subconsciously get more and more comfortable against the tree.
"Glad it wasn't you who was late for a change, huh," Jitsuko quipped, a hint of a smile crossing her face.
The story soon died down as their eyelids began to fall.
Jitsuko was the first to fall asleep. She instinctively leaned close to the source of heat that was radiating next to her – which happened to be Obito. The next thing he knew, her body was leaning against his as her head rested against his chest and shoulder, causing him to blush and stiffen up considerably in surprise.
Obito's nerves prevented him from moving, but then, he realized that he actually didn't want to move.
Slowly, silently, Obito lowered his head down so his cheek rested on the top of Jitsuko's head as he heard her unconsciously hum in response. He should have been blushing harder at the contact, but something about being so close to her stirred unique feelings inside him.
Comfortable. Secure. Natural.
Feeling the warmth and closeness of Jitsuko helped Obito give in to the temptation of sleep, and he soon joined her.
