Hey guys, this is just gonna be a short little omake to hold y'all over until I either post the first chapter of Whispers of Fire & Stone, which is a rewrite of Stone Eyes from the very beginning, or my new story Persicaria, which is a Reincarnated! Uzukage! Naruto fic because I hate myself.

Persicaria's first chapter is pretty much done, only have about 1000 words to go so I can close it up and then I'll be posting it, so if it interests you, keep an eye out. The rewrite is gonna take awhile until it's to my current standards but I'm working on it, I swear.

For now, however, please enjoy my newest omake! This one is my usual combination of humor and bitter-sweetness, as you guys really seem to enjoy the dynamic between Misaki and Obito. Y'all brought this on yourselves.

Also, quite a few of you have been saying that you've never read a SI/OC quite like Misaki or Seitaro (mostly Misaki though), and while this warms the cockles of my shriveled little heart, I will explain why this is so. I am 100% completely unable to keep any of my characters consistent. Their personalities change with my mood. I suck at character interaction, despite what a lot of you say (lookin' at you Deerdryad from AO3), and dialogue is haaaard. You guys seem to think I'm pretty creative and actually FUNNY too, which of course makes me go '?WTF?'

….. Ignore all that, the Artist's Self-Esteem (or lack-of) struck me all of a sudden. I'm also too lazy to go back and delete it, even though it would take less effort than completing this sentence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything pertaining to it. I absolutely suck at drawing.

KAKASHI POV

Kakashi was finding it increasingly difficult to resist the urge to facepalm as he stood before Misaki's porch, which had gained a rather interesting guardian while they were all away at war. Beside him, Obito stood snickering into his hand, with Naruto and Sasuke loosing fond sighs of exasperation. There was only stunned silence from the gaggle of reincarnated Hokage (plus Madara), though it wasn't long before Minato and Sarutobi both just huffed in clear amusement. Seitaro hadn't even hesitated to run into the house, the obstruction having parted for him and only him, the bastard. They could all hear Misaki's delighted laughter from within as they saw each other for the first time in months. Itachi's pleasantly cool tones could be heard as well.

The soon to be Rokudaime was tired, filthy, and feeling very much older than his thirty-two years. The Fourth Shinobi War had only just ended yesterday, his best friend was actually alive, and he had four Kage (and Madara because the meeting between him and Misaki should prove to be entertaining as hell) following him around on a time limit.

He was not in the mood for his pseudo-sister's bullshit.

Hashirama seemed fascinated, and Tobirama (introducing him to Misaki will be even funnier because she had never truly gotten over her childhood crush on the Nidaime) mildly interested. Madara looked just plain horrified as he muttered a soft, "What... the... fuck?"

"Misaki, your garden's outgrown its patch again," he called into the house.

The redhead popped out of the shoji door and laughed at them, though the pitch made you aware of its half-forcedness. Their absence had been hard on the woman, it was obvious if you knew her. Besides the darker bags under her eyes and thinner face, there seemed to be a sort-of frailty to her wrists and smile that wasn't there before the war. Misaki had always reminded him of glass, unbreakable until under the right pressure. She had fragile spider webs and chips galore, but hadn't shattered yet. Kakashi really didn't want to witness it if she did. "I let it this time. Besides, it's just the one plant that made it over here." Seitaro looked over her and cocked his head, a small smile gracing his tanned face.

Itachi appeared on her other side and gave a small smile. Kakashi was glad his fellow prodigy had improved to the point of no longer being bed-ridden. It had been touch and go for months even with Tsunade's help before she was also needed on the warfront. Winter had come and gone while they'd been all been at war. Itachi had almost left with it because of the weakness in his lungs, according to Misaki's worryingly tearstained letters. But the boy's color was better, he was standing and no longer in the Intensive Care Unit, so that was a plus. The short hair was new though.*

"Well, can you move it? Please?"

Misaki rolled her eyes and grinned at him. "They're just tomatoes Kakashi, kick 'em out of the way." Obito made a strangled noise and Kakashi wondered just how much ninja wire he had left and if it was enough to garrote the scarred man next to him. He took some deep breaths and tried not to think about his blood pressure.

1...2...3...4...5... "Okay, first of all, I'm not falling for that again. Last time I kicked any of your plants, you decided that it was a good enough reason to kick me." He had never realized until this moment how much he really wouldn't like the First Hokage laughing himself to ground because he was laughing at Kakashi, but the jounin found himself wishing he'd never gotten the chance.

"Because it was, my garden cannot defend itself. Besides, you kicked it way too hard."

He really hoped he wouldn't develop the same eye twitch Inoichi had. "I nudged it with my foot."

If it wasn't for the grin on her face, the fire in Misaki's blue-grey eyes would have led a stranger into thinking she was actually angry. "You turned one of my watermelons into a smoothie Kakashi."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

Seitaro grinned widely and stated matter-of-factly, "You actually did Kakashi."

"….Anyway, back to your tomatoes. I will not be going anywhere near those things."

"What? Why?" She had the nerve to look innocently confused.

"Misaki. They're growling." Naruto burst into guffaws, finally succumbing to the ridiculousness of the situation.

The redhead's smile softened as she caught sight of her family, as if her eyes hadn't been on Naruto and Sasuke the entire conversation. "Yes, they tend to do that when strangers visit."

"Tomatoes are physically incapable of growling. Or sentience, however base it is."

"Obviously not."

"….Misaki."

"Fine, fine. Have it your way." She giggled and leant down to whisper to her tomatoes, which slithered back under the porch. "There, happy now?"

"Yes. How much soil from 44 did you use this time?"

Itachi almost rolled his eyes. "She used all of it, undiluted."

She shrugged. "I was curious."

Sasuke sighed loudly, apparently no longer entertained by their argument. "Tadaima Misaki, nii-san."

"Of what? How much it would take for your own plants to be capable of eating you?" Misaki didn't bother to reply as she leapt towards her younger brothers and gathered both of them into her grasp.

Her voice was already thick with tears as she returned the greeting. "Okaeri boys." A shaky gasp. "Okaeri..."

"We missed you too nee-chan," murmured Naruto softly as he returned her hug. She pressed kisses to each of their cheeks and smiled through her tears. Kakashi couldn't help his slight smile, even as she tugged him into the hug as well.

It was good to be home.

MISAKI POV

It'd been two hours and we couldn't even look each other in the eyes.

"Oi, Itachi-nii, what happened to your hair? It's so short now!" questioned Naruto with his usual enthusiasm as he gestured wildly, chopsticks in hand. Sasuke didn't even pause mid-conversation with Kakashi as he ducked the blonde's flying limb. Mina-tou gave a small smile at his son's antics. Kushina did that too.

Itachi finished his bite of fish before answering. "As I'm sure either Misaki-nee or Kisame told you, winter was not kind to me this year. I grew too weak to even sit up without assistance, let alone brush my hair." He 'hn'ed and took a sip of tea, "So I decided to cut it until I could care for it properly again. "

Naruto grimaced. "Sakura-chan had to cut hers during our chuunin exams because Sasuke and I got our asses kicked."

"She's still mad at you for it." Kakashi eye-smiled at his students, who both winced.

What do you even say in a situation like ours? I'd spent years waiting, practicing and imagining and dreaming, for this moment and now I didn't have any words.

Tobirama glanced up from talking to Minato. "Sakura... She was the pink-haired medic, wasn't she? She was quite good for her age."

Seitaro sipped his sake and smiled, posture proud. "That's our Sakura-chan, been officially training for just barely four years and already on her way to surpassing Tsunade-sama!" His cheeks were only just starting to pink. He was such a lightweight. "It seems like just yesterday she was sitting down at this very table with her new teammates for the first time. A quiet little twelve year old girl with her nose stuck in a medical journal sat next to a surly little Uchiha brat who never talked and an Uzumaki boy who never shut up."

"Hey!" came said Uzumaki's indignant response.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I figured Naruto did enough talking for the both of us and more. Never could teach him to be quiet for more than five minutes though."

"Pretty sure it's genetic. Mito couldn't shut up for long either," snorted Madara.

"That would explain a lot, actually...," said Minato with realization on his face, causing most of the table who had known Kushina to chuckle.

I hadn't said a word. Hadn't eaten. It felt as if I did open my mouth, I wouldn't be able to close it again. My gaze was locked unmoving onto his hands, his skin, his hair. Everything other than his face was slowly, painstakingly, burned into my memory. There was the scar on his thumb he'd gotten helping an elder woman pick up pieces of the glass vase she'd dropped in the middle of the street. Our ice cream had melted in my hands while waiting for him.

Kakashi clapped his hands suddenly. "Well, thanks for the food Misa-chan. We'll go ahead and clean up while you and Obito go have a nice, long chat in the garden, hmm? Maybe even at that swing Seitaro built a few years ago for the ducklings?" Nice and far enough from the house that my nosy family couldn't easily eavesdrop.

It was almost funny how fast my dining room cleared out before leaving just the two of us. The resulting absence of noise was even more suffocating than the previously tense atmosphere of dinner.

Obito sighed at me from across the table. "Misaki..."

I stood fast enough to almost make me dizzy. "I think we should talk in the garden like Kakashi said." Mentally, I flinched. I hadn't meant for my voice to sound so cold. But I still couldn't bring myself to look at him, or his own wincing face.

"…. Alright. Lead the way then." I nodded and lead the way to the garden. When we reached it, I couldn't bring myself to sit on the swing and instead sat in the grass, leaning against the base of the tree it hung from. Swings are for happy memories and family. This was not to be the former, and I still hadn't decided on the latter.

It had been so easy to tell myself that I still considered Obito family when he hadn't been here. But I'd seen too many black-lined storage scrolls while volunteering at the tower over the last few months. Too many widows, orphans, and siblings left behind. As someone who valued family over pretty much anything else, did it go against my ideals to continue to think of him as my brother? Was I a hypocrite if I didn't? Could I love a man like my brother in the face of all those who'd lost one because of him?

I felt my eyes beginning to burn already and grasped at my pendant automatically. The kanji for 'luck' was little more than a shadow now, rubbed away over the years.

Obito stilled even as joined me in the grass. "That necklace...You... you kept it. All this time, even after everything I've done?"

I took a deep breath and tried to keep my tone neutral. "I've never taken it off, not since Rin gave it to me at your memorial service." My grip tightened.

"Why?"

I took a deep breath. "Because it's the last gift ever given to me by the boy I called big brother. The only true-reminder I've had for the last eighteen years. Almost every picture we had of you was destroyed the night of the kyuubi attack."

He leant against the tree as well, a breath away from me. We were silent for several minutes, though it wasn't as awkward as you'd think. It felt more like those rare quiet moments we'd shared as children, just being in the other's presence enough. Those stolen hours of forgetting the war, forgetting that Obito risked death every time he walked out the gates, forgetting the slowly worsening pain in my arm.

The wind blew, sending the branches of our tree billowing, leaves fluttering to the ground around us. The air tasted like lightning and was thick with moisture. A storm was coming as something inside me slid back into place.

I felt my chest shake with a gut-wrenching sob.

"Misa-chan... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I flinched at the old nickname. "I wouldn't blame you, if... if you decided I'm not family anymore. I don't deserve it. Personally, I think you should have the second Kakashi told you the truth."

I found myself shaking my head as my tears began to mix with the rain. A smile came unbidden to my face. "I've already made my decision, made it along time ago. I just... just needed to talk to you first before I realized it. Once family, always family Obito."

He looked shell-shocked, and just a little hopeful. "I'm not worth it Misaki! I'm just not! Do you even realize what that'll do to your reputation? Considering the sole instigator of the fourth shinobi war family, and by choice instead of blood like Sasuke and Itachi? Think about this!"

I snorted. "Pfft, what reputation?" The rain was coming down harder now. "If anyone needs to think about this, it's you Obito. Take some time, I'll wait." And with that, I stood and headed back inside out the rain.

Obito didn't follow.

It'd been storming for over three hours and he still hadn't come in. In that time, I caught up with Mina-tou and Sarutobi, smacked and scolded Madara for being an ass, and fangirled over Tobirama much to the amusement of Seitaro, who was admittedly a little tipsy.

My smile was growing more genuine by the hour as my house was filled with life, however artificial it was in some cases. I felt the tightness around my eyes fade and skin regained its color. I hadn't realized how much I'd miss having a full house until it was empty.

A hesitant knock came from the front door. He'd made a decision. But my brother was still an idiot about it.

"Oh kami Obito, you're soaked! What did you even do, just stand outside in the rain!?" That painfully familiar sheepish expression looked as charming as ever on the elder Uchiha's face. "You moron! Naruto, get a towel! Ugh, you'll catch your death... AGAIN... at this rate!" So I might have still been paranoid about illnesses after Itachi but whatever.

There was a laugh in his voice. "Okay nee-chan."

Even Obito looked ready to laugh."Misaki, I'm fine, really. I've been through worse than a cold from the rain." I ignored the guffaws from the dining area and snatched the towel from my little brother.

I scowled at him as I scrubbed his hair with the towel. "I don't give a damn! You look like a drowned rat!"

"Ow! Hey, not so rough!"

"Oh hush, you big baby."

He laughed and grasped my hands to still them. "First of all, abuse! Second, pretty sure you're the baby in this relationship."

My heart skipped a beat as hope filled my chest. Weakly, I muttered, "Technically, Naruto's the baby of the family..."

The Uchiha smiled. "Tadaima... imouto."

"O-Okaeri... nii-san." My breath was shaky, even as my older brother pulled me into a hug. "…. Ugh, now I'm wet too. Thanks nii-san."

"Just doing my job."

AN: And that's a wrap folks. Wow, this was a long ass Omake. I didn't mean for it to be this fucking long. Don't you hate it when characters take over? I do. Oh well, hope you enjoyed.

ALSO, ANY AND ALL OMAKE I WRITE ARE TO BE CONSIDERED CANON FOR IT'S SPECIFIC STORY.