Regret

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of or related to Inuyasha or Naruto.

Kagome hummed quietly to herself as she sat on a well in one of the training grounds her brother's team frequented, kicking her feet lightly. The eleven-year-old was waiting for her older brother to come get her, but Kakashi was late. Blue eyes narrowed at the tree line of the clearing. Kashi-nii was never late – that was Obi's job.

The girl sighed as she hopped down, ready to leave. Maybe Obi was late and Kashi-nii had to wait for him… They were supposed to get back from the frontlines today, so Obi probably kept them backed up a couple hours. "Obi-no-baka… I barely get to see Kashi-nii as it is…"

Kagome had wanted to become a shinobi to help Kashi-nii keep their father's legacy alive, but after Sakumo committed suicide, her brother refused to let her, claiming that he didn't want to lose her to that life too. At first, Kagome resisted, but the pain and loneliness in his eyes made her stop. He was scared. Even if his dark eyes didn't show it, she could tell – an aftereffect of a dangerous past she couldn't remember.

She was often accused of being an empath, being able to sense everyone else's feelings, and Kagome didn't bother denying that. Obi got on her case about not sticking up for herself, but she just blinked up at him. "Why should I when what they're saying is true? I'm not ashamed of it." Obito had stared at her thoughtfully, as if he was truly thinking about what she said.

Kagome and Kashi-nii were similar like that – they weren't ashamed of who they were. Kakashi was a child prodigy and a jounin already, and he had absolutely no problem rubbing that fact into Obito's face. Kagome was simply different than all the other children she knew. Sure, she played with them every once in a while, but she stayed outside most of the time – scaring Kashi-nii to death more than once.

Kagome looked at all the tress around her. Nature was peaceful, more so than the village anyway, and she felt like she was closer to something she was missing… something her soul was missing…

"Kagome-chan!"

Blue eyes darted up, and she was ready to scold her brother for being late, but she could only blink. "Obi-kun? What are you doing here? Where's Kashi-nii?"

Obito scratched his head, laughing nervously. "Ah, well, you see about that…" Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, taking in his strange appearance. His forehead protector was scratched and dirty, his goggles were cracked, and she couldn't see his left eye. "He's kind of… beaten up, so he had to go to the hospital first, so I came to keep you company!" His signature grin wasn't as happy as it normally was, and for some reason, that bothered her more than she would admit.

Kagome stared at him, and her abilities from that past sparked to life. "You're…" Obito opened the one eye she could so, Sharingan bright, to look at her questioningly. "You're proud of yourself, and you regret… not being a better friend to Kashi-nii… while you had the chance… and something else…" The Uchiha gaped at her as her eyes widened. "You're dead."

"Uh… Yeah, actually." Obito settled on the ground, staring at her curiously. "Maybe you are an empath of some sort…"

Kagome smiled slightly, lifting herself back onto the well. After her blunt statement, she felt tears come to her eyes from her own sadness showing through instead of someone else's – she used to cry for Kakashi when he couldn't. She may not have liked Obito at times, but she certainly didn't want him dead. "So why did you come to visit me?"

Obito laughed a little, shifting in the sunlight, but Kagome saw that no shadow lay beneath him. "I told you, to keep you company! It's my fault Kakashi got beaten up and can't come get you, so it's the least I can do." He lone Sharingan stared up at her. "Why aren't you scared of me? Not that I'd rather have you screaming or anything, but… I'm a ghost!"

Kagome smirked, lifting her head to the blue sky above them. "Otou-san used to come visit when Kashi-nii was off on long missions."

Obito winced slightly. "Okay, creepy, but I suppose it's not than what I'm doing… I don't even know how I'm still here…"

Kagome looked back at him, her eyes wiser than and eleven-year-old's should be. "There's something else you want to do. For Tou-san, he wanted to watch over me; Kashi-nii could take care of himself, but I couldn't, so he'd come to make sure I was alright." Her blue eyes stared into the Sharingan, making him shiver. "So what did you want to tell me?"

Obito blinked, scrunching up his face as he thought. "Well, I suppose you can tell Kakashi that I don't blame him – I'm fine with what happened. I hope he doesn't have more nightmares though…" He mumbled the last part, and Kagome wondered how gruesome his death was if Kashi-nii would get nightmares.

"I'll be there for the dreams, if that's any help." Kagome smiled when the Uchiha spirit grinned in relief. "There's something else that you've hidden for a long time." His eye widened, telling Kagome she guessed right. "Otherwise, you would have faded to the afterlife already, like Tou-san."

Obito looked to the ground, embarrassed probably. "Ah… yeah… Kakashi would've killed me if he ever found out, so I didn't get to thank that person for helping me be, well, me." Kagome tilted her head to the side as she watched her visitor stand up. "Oh well, I guess… it'll be okay… since I'll… fade afterwards."

Obito stepped up to her, his face serious, and Kagome felt a fluttering in her stomach, like butterfly wings, but she couldn't tell if it was her own feelings, or his. "What are you – "

Blue eyes widened in chock as his ethereal lips fell against hers softly. "Arigatou, Kagome-chan."

Obito was gone, as suddenly as he came, he was gone, and Minato-sama was entering the clearing. At the sight of the crystalline tears falling from her face, he rushed to her side, asking if she was alright, but Kagome didn't acknowledge him.

Her tears were a mix of Obito's Minato's, though he tried to hide it… and her own. "Obito…" Her shoulders shook and Minato, not knowing how she could have known already, pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Obito, you idiot… You should have told me earlier!"

AN: Okay, so I totally did not expect to be updating again so soon, but I had some freetime today and whipped this up. KagObito, a bit sad, but hey, that's how it goes. So... This is probably it for the next few weeks, though I do have a poll on my profile about what the next chapter will be, and I'm still taking requests, so please check that out. I'm going to add a second poll later on for the pairing of the sequels to 'Kisame's Daughter' because, quite frankly, I lost the tally sheet. ^^;

Please review and leave a request if you so wish!