Revamped Series Edit Completed: 31 July 2017
Toying With The Past Is What We Do
Chapter Seventeen
Who's The Greatest Threesome Of All?
"You look, uh… really cute, Obito," Rin says during their lunch break, the classroom cleared of all other children.
The Uchiha has his head bowed, chin pressed against his chest, rubbing his hands together on his lap. His eyes are shadowed like an obsidian masquerade mask, but Kakashi can clearly see the red stains across his cheeks. On Obito's left, Rin wears a tentative smile, glancing between them with inquisitive hazel eyes.
Kakashi swallows his budding snickers. "Actually, Rin, his name is Tobi. And he gets easily embarrassed by cute girls."
She tilts her head, blushing at the word "cute," and he could imagine a question mark appearing above her head. "I think I'm missing something," she comments, scratching her pinkening, tattooed cheek.
Obito finally moves, flashing a crimson glare at him and mouthing, "Shut up already."
He ignores the demand in favor of his own pleasure, continuing, "You see, Obito's not exactly sane, in fact, half the time he's pretty much a different person. This is the first time it's happened during class, though." The fabrications he's spewing amuses him beyond expectation, and he knows Obito will thank him later.
Much later.
Probably in-the-afterlife later.
"So to commemorate Tobi's first day at the Academy, my father got him the perfect outfit. You like it a lot, don't you, Tobi-chan?" he coos, skillfully disguising the teasing tone.
Rin's stare lingers on Kakashi for a moment before averting to Obito's sagged form.
Suddenly, Obito straightens and bawls, a waterfall of tears streaming down between Rin and Kakashi's chairs. "Tobi loves it very much!" he cries out miserably, tugging at his hair.
Rin still has confusion plastered on her face, but adapts to the unexpected situation in a flash.
"Blue is totally your color, Tobi-chan," she cheers, enthusiastically clapping.
Obito turns toward her, tossing a broad grin so the hatred in his eyes is hidden. "Oh, Rin-chan, you're so kind to Tobi!" he squeals, and in an abrupt move not even he had expected, wraps his arms around her neck in a hug full of childlike innocence. A gasp rings in his ear, causing him to freeze in place.
A small hand pats the top of his head and he relaxes with the first, big genuine grin seen on his face since arriving to the past, as if Rin's mere touch purified the darkness dwelling in his heart, albeit for this ephemeral moment.
Kakashi watches them before straying to his right hand, the one which had once pierced Rin's chest.
He is a pro at repressing the guilt and self-loathing lingering inside him since his unwilling role in Rin's suicide. Obito may not have realized back then, but when Kakashi first caught sight of a living, breathing Rin, he had nearly bolted from the classroom, the desperate need to sob and retch bubbling to the surface in that one split second.
But as always, he pushed those emotions and bodily functions back, took hold and shoved them down to not be felt again.
Repressing, always repressing.
And now, here Obito is, embracing an innocent Rin who is still alive…
…and his guilt and self-loathing has abated and is gradually fading. Because she's right there, in a chair, patting Obito's head, laughing cheerfully, her skin a glowing shade of pale than the greyish hue of death.
Kakashi leaps from his seat and unabashedly curls his arm around Rin and Obito.
"What are you doing?" Rin asks, raising an eyebrow.
He pouts, his bottom lip peeking through the mask. "…I was lonely," he mutters childishly.
Still patting Obito's head, she giggles. "You're so weird, Kakashi."
"Yeah, yeah! Weird, really weird!" Obito hollers, sending the other two to the floor, cupping their ears with their palms and groaning.
Kakashi is sure Obito busted his ear drums on purpose, but who would have thought he had enough backbone to bust Rin's as well?