status ongoing
prompt greatly inspired by Sanzo-Sinclaire's Naruto fanart on deviantart
background ten years after the Kannabi Bridge mission, AU from that
notice I realize that it's hard to write canon adult!Obito who is not scarred for life and following Madara blindly, but is an actual functional member of society. I figure he is kind of like Naruto, but a more hardened, more practical version of him. Those Uchiha genes have to factor in somewhere. Someone pointed that Anko and Kakashi are actually playing up their encounters in order to make Obito move out. You're not wrong. I figured that if both Rin and Obito had survived the war, they would either be married or crushing on each other and denying it at the same time. Thus, the more brash people in their lives have to take matters into their own hands. So, you get a Minato cameo as well. He's the ultimate shipper; remember that.
CHAPTER TWO
Obito huffed in annoyance, rolling over in his bed so that he was lying on his back. He had been twisting and turning for four hours, and there was still no sign of sleepiness on the horizon.
After Kakashi and Anko's abrupt appearance in the restaurant, the four of them had continued their drinking in The Dancing Leaf, one of their regular bars. He had taken extra care to sit as far away from Anko as possible, and luckily for him, the night had gone smoothly. They had decided to call it a night at around two, and after dropping Rin off to her apartment, the three of them had headed to the Hatake home.
Oddly enough, Anko and Kakashi must have gone straight to sleep, because Obito couldn't hear any suspicious noises from Kakashi's bedroom that would indicate otherwise.
However, the silence surrounding the apartment only made things worse for him. He hadn't drunk as much as he usually did during those outings, and his mind was clear as ever. Which is why it kept him from falling asleep, as it was mulling over Rin's proposal over and over.
What had compelled Rin to ask him to move in with her? Sure, they were teammates and the best of friends, but he was still a guy. Wouldn't she be uncomfortable living with him? He knew that he was messy and clumsy, and he didn't want Rin to feel compelled to clean after him. He knew how girls were with order and hygiene; what if she found him too messy to live with?
Also, what if she just offered on the heat of the moment, because he was too stressed at that particular time? Rin was one of the most compassionate people he knew; he wouldn't put it past her to take him in simply because she was feeling sad for him. But as nice as that might have been, he didn't want to impose himself on her like that. It was his problem that Anko and Kakashi were getting on his nerves. Rin didn't need to be involved in any of that.
Furthermore, there was the issue of his ever-present crush on her. Although after so many years, he could confidently admit that is was not a crush anymore. He loved Rin wholeheartedly, even if he had never decided to act on those feelings, in fear of destroying their otherwise perfect friendship. He had been content with keeping those feelings to himself and just being her best friend for years, but sharing quarters with her might threaten to make them overwhelm him once again.
And what about him? His past relationships had never even come close to getting as serious as to move in with them. He loved Rin, but didn't this living arrangement automatically put a block to either of their future sexual endeavors? He knew that Kakashi had no issues with him bringing a girl home — not like he had any right to, after all the times Anko had been over to their place — but was he supposed to bring a girl under the roof he would be sharing with Rin? Wasn't that considered crossing a line?
And holy shit—what if she brought someone home? Surely his poor heart wouldn't be able to handle that.
"Ugh, this is so confusing!" Obito groaned into his hands. It didn't seem like he was going to find a solution to this issue anytime soon. And if there was one thing Obito despised, it was being at a loss.
Throwing the covers off and scrambling to his feet, he decided to go to the one person who always had the answers.
Minato decided that he was in a good mood as he walked to his office in the Hokage Tower.
It had been only a few weeks since Naruto had started attending the Academy, and he could already see the changes in his son. Sooner than any of them would realize it, he would graduate, become a genin and get out from under his parents' wing. It was enough to bring a sense of nostalgia to Minato's heart. His boy was growing up so fast.
On the other hand, Kushina had been rather pleased that he had taken Naruto off her hands for half of the day — not so much when he had decided to drop him off with Obito, which resulted in ramen overdose and throwing up all over the place — and managed to get home relatively early to spend some much needed quality time with his family. It was no secret that he had been too busy lately with Hokage duties and things had been strained between him and his wife and son.
But he had managed to slightly placate both of them the previous night, with spending a couple of hours teaching Naruto about chakra and then devoting himself to pleasing his wife for quite some time after the lights in their son's room had gone out.
So, all in all, the Hokage was pretty happy as he prepared to begin his day. However, when he climbed the stairs up to his office, he hadn't expected to find one of his former students leaning against the wall waiting for him.
"Obito?" Minato asked, making the young man jump out of his trance. "What are you doing here so early?"
"Hey, sensei, I... uh... how's life?"
Minato raised a curious eyebrow at him, then replied slowly, "Good."
"That's great. I heard Naruto started the Academy, too. Congrats," Obito added, clearly stalling for something.
"Yes, he did. But you didn't have to come to my office first thing in the morning to praise my son, Obito. What is bothering you?"
Obito sighed in defeat. He didn't know why, after all these years, he still thought he could fool his sensei. "I... have a problem."
Minato nodded, opening the door to his office and letting Obito inside. He walked to his desk and sat down, gesturing towards an empty chair in front of it. "Let us solve it, then."
Obito plopped down, twirling his fingers on his lap. "Rin asked me to move in with her," he blurted out, making Minato sit up in surprise.
"I was not expecting that."
"Yeah, me neither."
"What would prompt such a proposal, Obito? As far as I know, you two are not romantically involved," no matter how much both of you want to be, Minato finished in his head. Then, his eyes narrowed. "Are you?"
Because he would be very upset if his two students, who had been crushing on each other since they were kids, had finally gotten together and he was the last to know of it.
"No, of course not!" Obito blurted out a little too quickly. "Why would we be? No, uh... no, we're not... eh... romantically involved."
Minato relaxed, leaning back in his chair. "Then, why did she ask you to move in with her?"
"I, uh, may have told her that I couldn't live with Kakashi any longer and that I absolutely had to get out of there, pronto."
Now Minato was even more confused. "I thought you and Kakashi were getting along just fine. You have been living together for years, after all, and you have the best teamwork in ANBU. What happened?"
Obito snorted. "You know who Kakashi is seeing, sensei. Is it really that hard to guess?"
Minato's face lost a significant amount of color. He knew all too well of his oldest student's relationship with Mitarashi Anko. He also knew that Kakashi was a closet pervert (courtesy of Jiraiya-sensei, no doubt) and that said kunoichi had helped him... thrive. Honestly, Minato was the Hokage, but even he was spooked by Anko. And to add insult to injury, Anko was actually on very good terms with Kushina — especially after she had sealed her curse mark.
"I see. I am actually surprised that you decided to move out just now," the Hokage said after a while.
"Trust me, I wouldn't have if I hadn't reached my limit."
Minato nodded. He could imagine what Obito had to deal with throughout the years in order to finally reach the point of breaking, but he wasn't feeling brave enough to ask for details.
"I don't see what the issue is, though. With Rin."
"Well, the thing is, I kind of already agreed to it, and now I'm thinking it wasn't such a good idea. I mean, what if we can't work it out? I've never lived with a woman before, what if I can't? What if everything I do is so obnoxious that she wants to kick me out but she won't want to say so, because this is Rin and she never complains, and really it was her idea, because she invit—"
"Obito," Minato's voice cut through his ramble. "If you don't want to live with Rin, you can just tell her. I'm sure she won't be mad at you for changing your mind."
"But that's the thing. It's not that I don't want to, I just don't know if she can put up with me twenty-four-seven, and I don't want to be a burden to her."
"I'm sure she has considered all that as well, Obito. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked you something so serious. Rin is a thoughtful girl, she doesn't do things she hasn't thought through first. But, if you have qualms, you can always decline. Our home is where we're supposed to feel comfortable at. If you think this will be stressful to you both, then don't do it."
"I don't know..." Obito said, his face scrunching up in thought. "How did you decide that moving in with Kushina was a good idea?"
He belatedly realized that those two situations were entirely different. After all, he and Rin were just friends whereas Minato and Kushina had already been dating for quite some time before they decided to move in together.
Minato crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I don't think I can answer that, given that the circumstances in your case are slightly different, but I'll tell you what I learned after living with her for a while."
Obito unconsciously inched forward.
"Girls are not so scary. Sure, they have their peculiarities, but living with one is not as strange as you'd think. Despite the relationship you might share with your roommate, they are still a roommate, a person with their own habits and needs. You have to get used to a lot of things and tone down a lot of your own idiosyncrasies, but in the end, it's all about compromise. You can't expect them to take a step back every time, or feel complied to do so yourself. You have to meet in the middle. Balance is very important in any household."
Obito mulled over his sensei's words for a moment. He was right. He shouldn't worry so much about sharing his living space with Rin. After all, he had lived with Kakashi for more than five years and that hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows either.
It would take some time for them to adjust to each other's constant presence, but it would work out in the end. After all, they had known each other for most of their lives. If their friendship had survived missions and pain and blood and a war, it could definitely survive this.
"You're right, sensei. I guess I'm thinking about this too much."
"Of course," Minato beamed. "Out of the three of you, you were always the one more likely to stress over things."
The younger man laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.
"Just talk to Rin about this. She's the only one who can placate your fears about it. Tell her how you feel, what troubles you, and I'm sure you'll be able to work things out."
Obito jumped out of his seat. "Alright, sensei. I will! Thanks for the advice."
"You're welcome," Minato smiled.
With a small wave, the Uchiha began to leave. However, after having made two steps, he turned to look at him over his shoulders. "Say, you don't happen to have any missions for me, do you?"
Minato laughed openly at that. Not two days had gone by since his last mission, and despite his usual grumping about not having any time off between missions, Obito was already begging for crumbs. "Not until you've sorted things out and have gotten a few good nights' sleep in you. I can't have you collapsing from exhaustion during a mission."
Obito snorted. "I don't see that happening anytime soon, sensei. Anko keeps letting her snakes roam the house at night. Not to mention the times I've woken up to find her trying to tie me up."
Minato shuddered. "Then I guess you better get to moving out."
"Don't I know it."
