Kento imagines a nice, pleasant sky. Leaning a bit towards cloudy, but not so much so that it dampens one's mood. He imagines rolling clouds, with whimsical shapes that harkens him back to a time where someone once had labeled the clouds alongside him. He imagines quiet lighting that does not burn, but instead warms. He imagines a thin shirt on his frame- maybe tackily patterned.

A sunglasses upon his eyes instead of his usual fare, a bit big around the edges. He imagines the handle of a suitcase within his palm, warm and solid. The call of the wind upon his hair, the relaxing of his shoulders- the exhaling of a breath he'd been holding on for so long and-

"Nanamin, are you listening?"

Kento reinhales that breathe so quickly he almost choked.

"I was not," Kento says dryly, knowing that his reply doesn't matter in the least because Gojo Satoru is Gojo Satoru and is the force of nature itself. Heeding to no one's call but his own.

Gojo is disjointed from the world in that way. Dancing along to some tune that only he can hear and heed. Uncaring what everyone else thinks of him or what they wish for him to do.

You can scream into the currents of a tsunami or shout at the encroaching storm- but it will not stop, it will not cease.

That is what Gojo Satoru is.

Kento has long lost the energy to scream about Gojo's antics. That came and went with his youth. People tend to do that as they get older. Lose the energy they once held so common and become what the youths would call 'lame.' It is the ebb and flow of time, nature taking its course and one's body following its whimsy.

Gojo Satoru doesn't seem to have gotten this memo. He's as spry as he ever was, as though time does not wear him down. As though he can go against time itself.

He probably can, if he tries hard enough.

Kento can conjure up the image of Gojo Satoru- eighty or a hundred or a hundred and eighty- being just as he was today. Spry and energetic to an almost impossible degree. He imagines that and it is the very image that he'll see in his nightmares today.

He wishes well to those tasked with taking care of Gojo then. Because at least Kento will be gone by that point. He's not meant to live for that long, he's already feeling his bones creak and his back giving way to age.

If Kento reaches retirement, he'll be considered lucky. If he dies before then, it's the standard. So he's not expecting to live the long kind of long, but he just wants to live longer than this. And at the rate that Gojo's driving him mad at- Kento thinks he can take about five more years of this, max, before he keels over from a stress induced stroke or something.

Kento can't even escape this torment. Nothing short of a special grade curse rampaging through Tokyo can stop Gojo from causing an untold amount of torture upon Kento now. And not even then, because Kento's pretty sure that with Gojo's enthusiasm for these types of meeting, he'd probably make the curse keel over within five minutes before getting right back into putting Kento back into torment over his very, very,very treasonous theories.

Kento cannot reiterate enough times how he's not paid enough for this.

He isn't paid for this at all, actually.

At this point, Kento would take vacation days over a ludicrous cash payment just to get away from Gojo Satoru but he knows that at this point he's in much too deep.

Gojo is in it much deeper than he is, however. Deep enough that he won't allow the singular person forced to listen to his woes to leave. That person, unfortunately, being Kento who has about twenty sorcerer's extra emotional workload from Gojo's antics forcefully saddled onto him by Gojo Satoru himself.

Worse yet, Kento can't even talk about this whole thing to the Gojo Satoru support group chat.

Kento's pretty sure that Ieiri, Ichiji, or even Yaga-sensei would have some very nice comforting words. And maybe Yaga-sensei would even put Gojo into a chokehold for all the things he's done to Kento.

But then that would mean speaking about Gojo Satoru's theories to Yaga-sensei who might really drop dead from stress. That man has endured far too much, and this might be the last straw to break his proverbial middle-aged back.

Kento would not wish that upon anyone- not even his worst enemies.

Well, maybe he would wish a very Gojo Satoru on that one curse in the sewer, but that's not the point.

Kento sighs, he wishes he could stop. But at this point every sigh of his is a cry for help and no one is answering. Therefore he just hangs his jacket on the back of his couch, a comfortable thing that has now borne witness to one too many treasonous theories. It doesn't deserve that, Kento also doesn't deserve that. But here they both are, stuck in place and forced to listen to treason.

The couch can't be executed, but Kento can be.

"You mentioned curse," Kento says, just to get Gojo to hurry up and stop prolonging his torture. Kento yearns for sleep, for the sweet embrace of ignorance that comes from falling unconscious entirely. But that is a thing that has long came and went with the passing of time and now all that's left in Kento's sparse night dreams are Gojo's maddening laugh and the elders pointing at him and going 'you knew' while Kento valiantly tries to defend himself on trial.

Kento is too far gone. He can feel that imminent stress-induced heart attack on the horizon.

"Okay, so-" Gojo begins, Kento can already hear his next words like some looping, eternal nightmare. "Imagine this."

Kento doesn't want to imagine it. He doesn't want to think about it at all. He wants, very much, to forget about this whole thing and possibly taboo curses and the horrific nature of the history of the jujutsu world. He wants to be his ignorant self again, unknowing to the pure torment that Gojo Satoru can inflict on someone by just speaking.

There is no way to rewind time. And so Kento sits there, forced to listen to some history that he wishes for no one to endure as Gojo Satoru, inconsiderately, uses Kento as a whiteboard of some kind because using an actual white board is too blaise or lame or something.

Kento wishes Gojo Satoru would just get a hobby. Or learn to do treasonous theory without an audience.

Alas, Gojo Satoru is a theatrical thing that heeds no one and cares not for societal convention on being kind to your fellow man.

Gojo Satoru is one of those types of people that you wish would just take a drama class or two and leave the world well enough alone, alas, he's an evolved version of a threatre kid that has no outlet growing up and now the whole world- Kento included- is his oyster.

"Come on, Nanamin, humor me!" Gojo says, obnoxiously, already being able to tell that Kento is very much not imagining anything. In fact, he's trying to empty his brain of all matter, hoping that maybe he'll be able to rid himself of learning more treasonous things.

But, Kento supposes, in it for one treasonous theory, in it for the rest of them.

"Imagining." Kento's tone is the driest thing possible, but Gojo's enthusiasm does not waver.

"Imagine this," Gojo repeats, perhaps just to be obnoxious. "You're of the Hatake clan- remember this name, by the way." It's like some kind of test, Kento thinks. Some kind of test to a class he never signed up for and is now being forced to remember terminologies by the world's worst teacher. "Once prosperous, now left with only you."

Who is this lesson even about?

Kento does not know but he thinks he doesn't want to know either.

"You try your best to honor your family name, you succeed. You catch an honorable woman's attention." Gojo is still draped artfully over Kento's coffee table. Why? Kento also wishes to know, but then he thinks he'd regret asking. "She's of the Gojo clan."

Oh.

And here it is.

The start of the treason that'll make Kento's brain hurt and his stress skyrocket to unknown and previously thought unreachable heights.

"Your ancestor," Kento says, already getting an inkling as to who this is about. "We're talking about your ancestors."

"Not just any ancestor," Gojo corrects, sly grin and mischievous finger wag. "My no-good, now-named, still not as handsome as me- ancestor."

That one. The treasonous one linked with that one treasonous curse to pack together in one treasonous theory package.

The one that Gojo clearly has some petty grudge against.

Well, it is Gojo. If there's a man that Kento would ever nominate to get into a pissing match with his ancestor- it'd be Gojo, hands down.

That's not a compliment, by the way.

"Anyways, that's a bit too far into the future," Gojo dismisses, waving a hand in the most irritating way possible. "Right now we're talking about his father."

Why, Kento thinks. And cannot think of any other reason than the fact that Gojo Satoru is an object of pure force and if you tell him to not touch something he'll fucking break it and bring up that thing's father to show you that he can in fact do anything because he's Gojo Satoru.

Kento hopes that whoever erased Gojo's ancestor from the records are happy that they've only driven him more mad with the desire to uncover said ancestor's whole family line.

Kento hopes they're happy, because he is not. He is, in fact, more resigned than ever that by the end of this journey he'll have known more about Gojo's family line than his own.

"You're the last of a failing clan, she's a daughter of the Gojo," Gojo summarizes, and Kento hates that he can see where this is going. He hates the fact that he can already envision about a thousand meetings and a thousand endings and all of them are dramatic and terrible and treasonous in the worst of ways.

"The Gojo clan probably didn't approve," Gojo says, Kento can see why. He hates that he can. It's the pure politics of the matter. Of a clan that's built up so high to look at something beneath them. Of alliances that could be forged from a daughter's hand and how the jujutsu world runs and runs and runs on power and honor and none of that is reserved for a clan with one member left- no matter how strong or honorable that man is.

A clan is only worth so much as its members. And the Hatake clan (Kento wishes he didn't remember that name so easily) is only worth one man, and by that point it's clear that they're only a step above civilian sorcerers, if that.

"But it didn't matter whether they approved or not," Gojo continues, Kento wonders what story he's weaving in his mind. He wonders what Gojo was told and what he pieced together from the wreckage and ashes of history.

None of it is good.

"She married into his family." It is a tale of love, but Kento already knows that this tale does not end well. It rarely does when it involves defying the Gojo clan. Of a woman that defied her clan for love and sacrificed her social standing for it. To leave behind her clan- that of power- for a man that does not have a tenth of that.

"She dies in childbirth, it's a son." Kento can already see the beginnings of a tragedy, of a conflict that can never end and will leave a child torn beneath it all. "He has the Six Eyes."

And there it is.

Kento knew it was arriving at this juncture- at this place in time.

The birth of the heralded Six Eyes.

Kento is an outsider to the politics of the jujutsu world. But even he knows that this is a tumultuous thing. Something that's to shape the jujutsu world for a generation or so. The shifting tides of power back into the Gojo clan. For the Six Eyes is why they're of such prominence at all.

And from what Gojo just told him-

"He was born into the Hatake clan," Kento says. It is not so much a question as it is a statement.

He imagines it, painting out the picture of a clan on its last legs. A conflict between a clan that is far too powerful and one that is no longer near its prime. An elusive peace that exists so far as nothing rocks the boat, a peace that is not to last.

Because she died, and now what's left is a child that'll utter in the coming of a new age for the jujutsu world.

But he does not bear the Gojo name.

He bears the Hatake surname.

"If you were his father, what would you do?" Gojo asks, it is not a light question. It is a heavy thing to try to imagine kneeling in front of your wife's cooling body and the screaming child next to her. With eyes blessed by the heavens and all that it means. The power encapsulated within an infant's body. Both that of political and tangible power- encapsulated within that tiny body- those small eyes.

To keep him would be tantamount to making enemies of the Gojo clan.

To let him go, would be letting go of your son.

Letting go of him to a clan that would not hold a place for you as his father. So he'd be dead to you like your wife is. So that you'd be dead to him like his mother is.

And even if the man did not love his son, did not love its mother as he would-

Can anyone let go of the Six Eyes. That once in a lifetime chance, especially to a clan on its last legs?

Kento does not know what happens at that juncture, what that man thought. Of a father's thoughts as he looked at his son- with the sky in his eyes. Of a husband's thoughts as he saw his wife's cooling body, knowing that she died so that their child could live. Of a clanhead's thoughts as he saw the only chance for a prosperous revival of his clan encapsulated within an infant's frame. Of a sorcerer's thoughts as he saw the Six Eyes and knew that the Gojo clan would never let this pass.

He does not know the intricacies of it. The conflict between the father, husband, clanhead, and sorcerer.

But what he does know is this-

There is no Hatake clan left.

"He was named Hatake Kakashi," Gojo reveals. Reminding Kento that this is a story that has long ended. The characters within it have lived their lives- the story has taken its course. There's no 'what-if's and there's no diverging train tracks. There is just a singular end to it all. Everyway that this led to the rise of a special grade curse created from the strongest's hand.

And that man- that father, husband, clanhead, sorcerer-

He chose to keep that child, his son.

The choice has long been made. Centuries and centuries ago.

Kento does not know whether it was the correct decision- whether there can evenbea correct decision with a situation like this.

It is a decision that has equal drawbacks as it does benefits.

It is a decision that has shaped Hatake Kakashi's life.

But to what end?

Kento doesn't think he wants to know.

But he thinks he'll be told regardless.

"Hatake Kakashi grew up in the shadow of conflict between the Gojo clan and his own," Gojo says, his gaze fixed to some indiscernible point on Kento's ceiling. "He understood the situation, even from a young age."

It is a tragic start to a life, one that is already mired in conflict that no child should have to face- let alone be cursed to understand.

Even if Hatake Kakashi's life has long ended- Kento still does feel sympathy for the child that was.

A child deserves to grow up to a family that would welcome them, a world that would embrace them. Not to political conflict between clans that couldn't care less for them as a child and more for the eyes that rested within their sockets.

"They lived that life, conflicted and complicated as it was," Gojo continues. "Until one day his father went on a mission. And between exorcising a curse and that of his comrade's life- he chose to save a life. But the curse was not exorcised."

Kento can see it. The beginning of the end. Of a conflict that will never stop and a clan that will dig at any wrong you do. Of elders that are all too eager to bend to the will of the strong.

He is an outsider to the jujutsu world, but even he knows this much.

"The consequences fell onto him, they blamed him for what came after. He was disgraced. Most of it was probably done with the help of the Gojo clan." There's a wistful note to Gojo's voice, something quiet and shimmering. "He took his own life in an attempt to clear his family name." There's the end of one story. "Hatake Kakashi was six." And there's the continuation of another.

"He was the one to find his father's body."

Kento cannot imagine how that must've felt. What that child must've felt as he saw his father's body. The blood that must've stained the floor- the body that must be cooling and that of the man that raised him.

For Hatake Kakashi who already knew of the precarious situation that his clan is in-

It mustn't have been hard to put together that it was the Gojo clan that helped to fan the flames.

That they've only done so because of him. Because of the eyes within his sockets and the power that he was born with.

Kento cannot imagine how it must've felt, to know that your father died and it is your mother's clan that pushed him there. To know that your father died, and your eyes were the motivator behind his murder.

The jujutsu world has failed that child, utterly- tragically. It has failed Hatake Kakashi and his father.

(Kento doesn't know whether the man was kind or not. He doesn't know what the man looked like or even his name. But what he does know is this-

If he was given the option to save Yu at the cost of that curse going free-

Kento would take it.)

It has failed Hatake Kakashi when it paved a path for that child of six to see his father's cooling body and piece together the pieces that it was his eyes that drove everything to this point in time- this juncture in history.

He can't imagine seeing that, as a child of six. He can't fathom what Hatake Kakashi must've felt.

From the emotions alone at that moment of sight-

It's one of those things that can generate at least a grade one curse.

Gojo doesn't need to go into the details for Kento to feel the horror stirring in his gut at the needless tragedy of it all. Caused only by a yearning for power and that of the Six Eyes.

It's even made worse, Kento thinks. That this history was erased at all. That Hatake Kakashi does not exist in the records and so too, does the wrongs that have been done against him be erased.

"Hatake Kakashi decided to grow up and become a sorcerer, so that he could become the clanhead."

Hatake Kakashi was six. A child not even up to Kento's hips. Not even past the single digits of his age and already forced to grow up. Gojo only said 'choose' because the only other decision than that would be to-

"He didn't want to go to the Gojo clan," Kento concludes. It's not a very hard conclusion to draw at all.

"You can imagine why," Gojo says lightly, though the contents of his words were anything but.

It's Hatake Kakashi's last willful act as a child before being forced into the role of an adult. It is a boy knowing that he has to grow up and is unable to stay a child- lest his father's legacy and clan dies with him. It is a child being forced to grow up and understand that fighting against a clan that of the Gojo is harsh and terrible.

It is a child knowing that it is an irrational choice but making that choice regardless because he refuses to let the Gojo clan succeed.

It is the choice of a child who shouldn't have been forced to make that choice at all. But the world forced his hand and so Hatake Kakashi defied them right back.

Kento can't imagine being a sorcerer at six. He can't imagine any child being forced to face monsters and things that should only exist under their beds for their parents to chase away. He can't imagine the burden of that, the fear that Hatake Kakashi must've felt and still choose to run head first into because he's carrying the weight of an entire clan and his father's death on his shoulders.

No child should be forced to face their nightmares; Hatake Kakashi was forced to face his father's body at six.

Now that it's laid before Kento, it is a wonder that the only thing Hatake Kakashi had seemingly done is create a curse out of a man he had complicated feelings for.

Sorcerers have gone mad for less. Kento wouldn't blame Hatake Kakashi for doing so.

And yet he never did, even as he grew up and understood more of what went on behind his father's death.

"He eventually became apprenticed to a very talented man named Minato, a talented man born from mundane parents, a very talented and accomplished man with no clan backing." A name that Kento did not recognize. "And at eleven, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin joined him to become a team. Both of them- twelve."

He does not recognize the third member's name, either. Just like their teacher. Something tells him that neither of them lived long enough to be anything of note. Let alone written down in history.

Gojo's tone turns wry when he states their age, a wrong twist to his lips.

Kento can understand why.

Eleven and twelve. Neither are ages fit for the field. To fight curses when their limbs are still growing and they haven't even yet reached the category for 'teenager'.

Even if Kento has known about the ages from prior conversations- it does not make it any better to hear it all over again. That children were marching out to their deaths in the chaotic torrents of jujutsu history. Bodies to fuel the engines of the jujutsu world. For there were plenty of curses, and plenty more bodies needing to be thrown at the problem.

And it did not matter how young those bodies were.

He thinks of Itadori. Young and clumsy but so, so energetic.

He tries to imagine Itadori but even younger than that- even clumsier than that-

Elementary aged. Far too young to be facing up to curses. Far too young to fight- let alone against monsters that are that of their nightmares and made from the worst of humanity.

He wonders how old their teacher was, and he hopes that 'Minato' is at least older than Itadori.

It's a pathetically low bar. But the jujutsu world seems to always manage to dance beneath it.

"Hatake Kakashi has the Six Eyes, Nohara Rin- a reverse curse user," Gojo states their names carefully- as though he can conjure them from just his words alone. But he can't, for they are long dead and gone and lost to time or forcefully erased. "Uchiha Obito, an untalented orphan."

And here they are-

Back to the start of it all.

The beginning of the end of one Uchiha Obito. A temporal node in time that has been transported forward- like a buried capsule that's been set to detonate and shake the foundation of the jujutsu world in its wake.

"He doesn't belong," Kento states plainly. Because he doesn't. It is very much an unbalanced team. And even if the Uchiha clan were of some prestige, they'd have sent another child of Uchiha Obito's age rather than an unfavored orphan. And even if they have not a child of Uchiha Obito's age- surely any other one from another age group would've done the same, and be more competent and valuable than that of a weak orphan.

Perhaps it is a question of Hatake Kakashi being unfavored by the Gojo clan- but if that were the case, that team wouldn't have been assigned a reverse curse user at all. Given how rare and treasured their talents were and still is. Shoko Ieiri can attest to that.

There is something clearly wrong with Uchiha Obito's selection into a team of treasured talents and technique.

He does not belong.

The Six Eyes, a reverse curse user-

This is not just an ordinary team- it is clearly a team that's meant to be more. That's meant to grow together and be able to take on most curses together.

The Uchiha fits into the equation so far as that Uchiha is talented- but talent was something that Uchiha Obito did not have until-

"He didn't belong there," Gojo concludes. "Someone placed him there."

Kento is starting to piece together the pieces.

He doesn't think he likes what he's seeing.

"The only person who would have the power to place Uchiha Obito there would, of course, be-" Gojo trails off, putting on a show for an audience of one that does not want to be there at all. "His own clan, the Uchiha clan."

It'd make sense, they were prominent enough to at least place one of their members there, and they'd be the one to have control of where one of their clan goes. And Kento doubts that any other clan would have cared about Uchiha Obito, either.

And the reason for their decision would obviously be-

"They wanted to push him to his limits," Kento states, carefully. Hedging at a terrible truth. "On a team like that-"

"The curses they'd have to take on would be strong," Gojo finishes. There's still a smile on his lips, but it doesn't feel pleasant in the slightest. "Strong enough for the Six Eyes perhaps. But Uchiha Obito is just an unlucky orphan."

Uchiha Obito was an untalented orphan. With no hopes other than to awaken his eyes.

Someone had a vested interest that he would be doing so.

That he would awaken his eyes and also-

That he would be on death's door.

The story is unfolding in front of Kento's eyes.

It is a tale that has long ended. The rubble etched onto a curse's skin and the blood of a father that succumbed has long been turned into ashes.

And yet.

It is a tale that Kento can't tear his eyes away from and wishes not to hear the ending of. Because it is an awful, tragic tale and there can be nothing done to change the predestined ending already written centuries and centuries ago. It is an utterly human tale, and in that- there are utterly human people.

And yet now, there is only one curse left to tell the tale.

"It was a gamble," Gojo explains. The sordid details of men playing with children's lives for power. "There have been others before him, but Uchiha Obito would be the one to live and succeed."

It is a terrible definition of 'succeed'. To win over the rest and yet live- forever cursed to an existence in a skin that's supposed to be dead and only alive because of a curse inside your gut. To gain the power and family that you've always wanted but at the cost of losing yourself.

"It's not a coincidence that Uchiha Obito was placed onto that team."

And that is the terrible truth of the matter.

It is a game of chess between clans that the pieces on the board has no privy to- nor do they have the power or will to resist.

It is the pull of power. And for Uchiha Obito, weak orphan-

Can he truly reject the chance to be on a team that's destined for greatness?

Kento doubts it.

Even if it came at the cost of his life, perhaps it may as well have been worth it for a boy who only knows that power leads to love and, as all children do, crave for love from his clan.

"There is one year between Uchiha Obito being placed on that team and dying," Gojo states. "He lasted a year's worth of mission, and yet, his eyes did not awaken." A quiet inhale. "Why? Put a pin in that."

There was a year's worth of deadly missions. And even if Hatake Kakashi was there to dispatch of most troubles, Kento still knows it is a harrowing ordeal for someone that was considered weak in his time.

And yet- for Uchiha Obito in that position, it must've been more harrowing, still, that his eyes did not wake.

Kento wonders what Uchiha Obito had thought during that year. Whether he wished that his eyes would. Whether he wished for honor and power. Whether he wished for his clan to love him and whether he wished to be on the same level as his teammates.

He wonders how Uchiha Obito felt, after, when his wish was fulfilled and he is no longer himself.

Was it everything he had wished for?

Kento wishes that it was, just so that child would be happy. Just so he'd get a moment of happiness in his dour life.

But he doubts it. He doubts that anything is worth your life and the eventual death of someone you loved. To be remade until you're no longer 'you' and just another person within your body.

"During that time, the Uchiha clan was probably looking for a new vessel as they'd lost their last one," Gojo continues, weaving together the strings long left untouched. "Uchiha Obito was not the first child they tried their hands with, because his eyes had not yet awakened and they did not need a vessel without their clan's technique."

Gojo still gazes up at Kento's ceiling, Kento wonders what the man sees behind his blindfold.

"And yet they wasted a year on him instead of replacing another child on that team who could awaken their clan's technique."

Kento doesn't know what goes on behind Gojo's mind. He doesn't want to at this point, but he has a feeling he's going to know, regardless.

"Why?" Kento asks, Gojo snaps up into sitting, as though predicting that Kento would do so.

"I'm glad you asked, Nanamin!" Gojo says, with false enthusiasm that doesn't quite match the somber story he's telling. "You see, to answer that question- we go back to Hatake Kakashi's childhood!"

Kento does not see where this is going.

"You see, Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito were childhood friends. Even when it was probably not advisable for Uchiha Obito to be friends with someone embroiled in conflict with the Gojo clan- but, you know how kids are. But- they became a bit distant after Hatake Kakashi's father's death- as Hatake Kakashi became a bit of a rules stickler. But, again, reunited again under the same team," Gojo explains readily. "Apparently they didn't get along too well, even then. Lots of bickering and all that, seeing as Uchiha Obito didn't quite agree with Hatake Kakashi's ideals and mission-abiding-ness. Considered Hatake Kakashi's father a hero and all that. But at the end of the day, Uchiha Obito still cared while Hatake Kakashi seemingly did not."

Again, Kento does not see where this is going.

"It's a full year- and during that year, Uchiha Obito somehow never got into enough danger or felt threatened enough to awaken his eyes." Gojo smiles, it's a wholly mischievous that's devoid of any real joy. "Remember when I was saying that there's a probable reason as to why?" Gojo gives Kento a sparse moment to answer. "Well it's because of Hatake Kakashi!"

Gojo doesn't need to elaborate for Kento to see where the man is going with this.

"He protected him," Kento says, slowly. "Because he also cared."

"That's right," Gojo replies, moving from side to side. "Hatake Kakashi probably protected Uchiha Obito from most danger- hence, his eyes staying dormant."

It is ironic, Kento thinks. That the Uchiha clan placed Uchiha Obito onto Hatake Kakashi's team for him to awaken his eyes- only for it to have the opposite effect.

"And it's much harder to replace someone on a team if the Gojo heir wishes him not to," Gojo says. "Even if Hatake Kakashi was not a member of the Gojo clan, it isn't hard to invoke their name to get the Uchiha clan to back down. And if the Uchiha clan were to test that- they know that the Gojo clan would back Hatake Kakashi up even if they did not favor him, for it'd be a test of their power."

It is easy to see why, now, that Uchiha Obito had survived until then. Without awakening his eyes despite having to face many curses that even adult sorcerers would balk at.

"As for why, it's because of Uchiha Obito's fate if he's to be sent away," Gojo says. He doesn't need to elaborate much, but he does, regardless. "An orphan like him is destined to be sent elsewhere. And if there's no Hatake Kakashi- it's likely that he'd die than awaken his eyes." It is a terrible thing for a child to be discarded so easily. "Hatake Kakashi isn't heartless, and not ruthless enough to let Uchiha Obito go to such a fate."

Kento can imagine. Hatake Kakashi must've been eleven going on twelve during that time. Even if he was forced to grow-

His heart still has not hardened.

"But something had to happen, especially when a year passes yet no viable vessel manages to survive and the Uchiha clan would not stand themselves to be slighted."

And on they go- towards the destined ending that cannot be stopped. Even if Hatake Kakashi had tried.

"That mission happened, they forced Hatake Kakashi's hand," Gojo says, his tone is something terribly wrong. "They assigned their teacher elsewhere, Hatake Kakashi protected Uchiha Obito again, and then something went wrong."

The conclusion is coming, Uchiha Obito's death is imminent.

"Nohara Rin got taken. There was a choice to be made- go after to save her, or complete the mission."

And there it is. The mirroring of the mission that took Hatake Kakashi's father's life and pushed the man into the abyss. The mission that shrouded Hatake Kakashi's life has finally reared its head.

Your comrade or the mission.

Even if it were the Six Eyes- even if he was deemed the strongest-

There was no way Hatake kakashi could be certain that he could exorcise the curses fast enough to get there to save Nohara Rin. Especially when he was to be faced with that decision at twelve- when his father's death is still very much pressing down on him and suffocating him- not when his mind is still clouded by the red of his father's blood and what is to come after-

The decision must've been paralyzing.

Do you play out history? Or do you choose to change it?

If it is a tragedy then-

It's clear that Hatake Kakashi would choose to change his course.

But what about Uchiha Obito?

"Uchiha Obito chose to go rescue her, Hatake Kakashi had chosen to complete the mission," Gojo answers.

That must've been what was planned. To play on Hatake Kakashi's fears and nightmares to force a separation. Because it's clear from theri arguments alone that Uchiha Obito would've gone after Nohara Rin- because of his ideals, his beliefs that Hatake Kakashi's father was a hero.

"But then afterwards Hatake Kakashi came back for Uchiha Obito- and they reunited again." A wry smile, Kento doesn't think what's coming next is a heartwarming reunion at all. "During that crisis, Uchiha Obito's eyes awakened as they wanted. And then finally-"

And here it is-

"The cave collapsed."

Yet the story does not end there as Gojo continues.

"But not before Uchiha Obito told Hatake Kakashi to see the future for him."

Kento's mind rewinds to the start of this conversation- where this all started and where it's all ending and-

"He cursed him," Kento says, faintly.

"He cursed him," Gojo reaffirms, nodding his head.

It is a kind wish, but in the end-

Uchiha Obito had cursed Hatake Kakashi upon his death, with his last words. With the all the regrets and resentment and sadness of a boy who's too young to die and yet is dying anyways-

Uchiha Obito had cursed Hatake Kakashi. Rendering Hatake Kakashi unable to forget for a lifetime- of a boy beneath rubble and of the wish placed onto his shoulders at the age of eleven. Compelled to live- to see the future in Uchiha Obito's stead.

Last words are not to be taken lightly. For rarely does one die without regrets. Rarely does one die without at least yearning for something.

Last words are a terrifying thing- fro they are compelled with their user's final moments- perhaps the strongest concentration of cursed energy that they'll ever exude in their lifetime- imbued it all into those words and the result is-

It's something like the Inumaki's cursed speech. Except it's fueled by someone's life- their regrets, their yearning, their last moment of life.

It'll haunt the receiver for the rest of their life. It is a command and order that you can't quite stray from, something that'll haunt your every action- your every moment. It'll be what's ringing in your ears when you're on death's door- something that can pull you forward and yet can drag you down at the same time.

And for Uchiha Obito- who said those last words-

It must've been something meant to uplift.

And yet the horrific results are in front of their eyes now.

'See the future for me.'

It is a command to live, to keep living- to keep living and see the future for Uchiha Obito.

Those words do not go away even if Uchiha Obito is revived- for he had once died and those last words will be forever etched onto Hatake Kakashi's skin- his mind- his everything.

And what happens when Uchiha Obito dies again?

"Imagine this-" Gojo says, a finale. "Instead of 'I have to see the future your place'- it becomes-"

Gojo smiles, it is not very pleasant.

"I'll let you see the future yourself."