.

.

She was perching on top of the refrigerator, watching as Obito got ready. His movements were precise, exact, and Rin watched as he did the same thing he did every morning.

He woke up. Took his medications. Got dressed, black turtleneck beneath the green flak jacket. Went to the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit or bread before bounding down the metal stairs.

There were slight variations - sometimes Obito would skip breakfast altogether - but Rin followed him anyway. Time moves differently as a ghost, and Rin experienced Obito's days in flashes. Flash, and he completed another mission. Flash, and now he was back home.

Time slowed when Obito didn't have missions.

Rin sat in the corner of Obito's bedroom, watching him as he slept. It was 5 AM, but he had an alarm set for 6 even though he had no missions. Rin's chakra built. It was just enough to flick the alarm switch off. Other guardian spirits could directly intervene in their charges, shape their fates and mold their destiny. Rin was satisfied if she could help Obito with his alarm.

Obito stirred. Slowly his eyes blinked open, only to see the clock blinking with a cheerful "8:02 AM" on the digital display. Rin watched as he started to panic, but then remembered he had nothing to do today. She giggled to herself. If she were alive, she'd roll over in the bed next to him and hug him.

Bathroom. Brush teeth. Medications. He padded barefoot to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, which was empty except for a random energy drink and a bag of gummy bears Kakashi had given him. He had absently tossed them in there, which Rin found cutely endearing. Obito looked at the bears and berated himself for being stupid, though, and he plucked the candy from the shelf and tossed it in the trash.

He stood in the middle of the kitchen, and Rin could hear the entire monologue to himself: should he go out and get food? Could he wait? He didn't want to leave the apartment today. His eyes still hurt from the last mission, so he can't kamui there. This is annoying.

Rin glanced around the kitchen. Floating upwards, she slipped through the closed cupboards and drifted through the cabinets, until she found the old box of granola bars he had shoved in with the dishes when he wasn't paying attention. Like a cat whose whiskers could tell the faintest change in the vibrations in the air, Obito turned, saw the spot in the cabinet, and remembered the granola bars.

Rin preened. She was a good guardian spirit. Obito flipped over the box and saw the expiration date had passed two months ago.

Her consciousness faded, and she experienced the rest of Obito's day in flashes: cleaning the bathroom, scrubbing the shower and the sink. He had a pile of laundry and no other clean clothes, and Rin followed him as he poured laundry detergent directly into the washer without measuring it. She blinked and two hours passed, he was sitting on the floor going through a stack of mail and unpaid bills; blinked again and it was nighttime, he was standing in his kitchen. She watched as Obito sighed annoyed at his empty refrigerator.

He was in the convenience store again, looking at various cups of ramen. "Get fruit," Rin said, and her voice was the barest whisper. Obito looked up, her voice subconsciously reaching him. He walked over and palmed a couple bananas, setting them in his basket, before grabbing a few cans of beer.

Rin frowned. Obito paid, and she watched as the cashier bagged Obito's breakfast and dinner - a few bags of snacks, two bananas, and the beer, and Rin kicked herself for not telling him to pick up a bento or at the very least a few riceballs. Obito paid, bowing politely at the cashier and picked up his bags.

She wasn't experiencing time like flashes now, she was fully inhabiting the space beside him. Rin followed him as he walked down the block, as he turned the corner to the darkened street and then the rusty metal stairs to his apartment.

Shower. Change of clothes. Peel the banana. Rin watched as Obito went through all of those, before lying sideways on the couch.

This was strange. Rin's consciousness usually would ebb around this time, when Obito didn't think about anything, just stared listlessly at the TV. Rin hovered. Obito stayed still a moment, then got up with purpose. He walked up to the little shrine he had in the corner of the kitchen, then set down a banana as an offering to her.

She could hear his thoughts perfectly: I should probably cut this for her, and he picked it back up again. She watched as he meticulously peeled the banana and cut up a few slices, setting them on a little dish to put in front of the shrine.

Rin smiled. He was always leaving little offerings for her: a wildflower, plucked furtively while he was pretending to be Tobi in the Akatsuki; a small book of matches that the tavern had decorated with curly hearts. Even as he set down those offerings, he'd silently berate himself because they were stupid and random, but Rin could sense the earnest side to him too, because he was sure Rin would like them.

She watched him get ready for bed. Turning off the light, he curled on his side and pulled up the covers, staring out at the darkness of the room. Wordlessly Rin joined him in the bed and curled up around him.

There were a few surefire times she knew Obito could feel her: at the moment before he drifted off to sleep, and then again when he started to wake. Not fully conscious, he could take in the subtle sensations of Rin's spirit lying next to him, the weight of her arm draped around him. She'd curl her body up against his back, pressing her face to his shoulderblades, and she'd feel him shift and exhale in response. Sometimes, he'd hug a pillow, as if unconsciously wanting to hug her in his sleep. She had been doing this for years, she had long ago stopped feeling self-conscious. He'd start to drift to sleep and she'd squeeze him, hear him quietly sigh and cuddle him.

You work so hard, Obito, Rin thought, and she nestled against him.

I wish I could do more to protect you.