Chapter Text
"We deserve a break~!" whines Obito as they come upon a sign that tells of a village a short distance west of their current location.
Kakashi, who has come to a reluctant stop to his right, gives him an incredulous look. "No," he says. "We don't have time."
He puts his hands together and drops to his knees in a dramatic display. "One night, Kakashi!"
The boy crosses his arms over his chest and rolls his eyes skyward. "Obito," he grumbles.
Rin smiles at Obito, telling him she's reached a decision. He holds his breath in anticipation to see who she will agree with when she lays a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "He's right, Kakashi," she says and he cheers.
The boy twitches with irritation, his eye bright with betrayal as it meets Rin's gaze. Rin doesn't let herself be affected by his look. Instead, she chuckles. "I think one night off would be good for us. We can cut a little loose. Get some drinks and have a little fun!"
Kakashi's hands drop loosely to his side. "Are you serious?" he complains.
Obito, though, is so excited he's back on his feet and already starting in the direction of the village. "It's two against one!" he hollers over his shoulder. "So, give!"
"Fine!" yells Kakashi and Obito knows he's throwing his hands up in the air even if he isn't watching him right now. "One night, that's it for the next month."
Rin and Kakashi take on a galloping pace as they hurry to catch up with Obito. As they run after him, Rin gushes her gratitude a their teammate, "Thank you, Kakashi!"
Obito turns his head around to look at the nonplussed boy. As he does, he jokes, "Yeah, thanks, slave-driver, I mean, buddy!"
Rin gives him a half-hearted glare, telling him she does not think he's being funny. Kakashi, though, just huffs, apparently unaffected by his bad humor. "Uh-huh," he grumbles. Then, something in his eye changes and he's way ahead of Obito and Rin and probably halfway to the village now.
"Last one to arrive pays for drinks!" he shouts.
"What!" cries Obito.
Rin surpasses him as he gapes and, unfortunately, he never manages to eclipse the two and beat them to the village.
-O-
The village is a relatively small place. As they do a lap around it, they realize while it has a couple of different places to buy liquor, there is only one bar. They shrug at each other upon the discovery. It could be a total hovel and it's not going to matter to them. All they want is a place to drink, catch-up, and enjoy each other's company.
When they go in, it's relatively empty. It's early in the evening and Obito suspects it's not until after dinner hours the locals start to show up to drink. The barman spots them as they come in and throws up a hand in a stopping gesture. "Whoah, wait," he says.
"What's the problem?" asks Obito, looking from Rin to Kakashi to see if they have any idea what might be wrong.
They shrug at him.
"You can't bring your kid in here," snaps the barman, cheeks flushing.
"He's not our kid," he blurts before realizing that's probably going to make them look worse in the eyes of the barman. "We're, ah, watching him for his… Dad," he lies.
Kakashi shifts next to and Obito is almost certain the small huff of air he let out is a concealed laugh.
"Wow," replies the barman, expression one of shock and horror. "He's still not allowed in," he declares, brows furrowing and a scowl tugging at the corners of his long mouth.
Obito puts a hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "C'mon, he won't cause trouble…" he cajoles.
The barman shakes his head. "Get outta here before I call for backup!" he snaps. Waving his arms forcefully at the door, he yells, "Shitbag babysitters!"
"Hey!" bristles Obito, stepping toward him.
"Let's just go, guys," hisses Rin, grabbing Kakashi's arm and the back of Obito's cloak.
He looks back at her and frowns."But—"
"We'll think of something else," she tells him, eyes hard and resistant to arguments.
He sighs but lets Rin lead them out of the bar and back onto the village street. Once there, he turns around to face her fully and asks, "So what do you suggest?"
Rin's eyes shift right. "Well…"
-O-
Putting on a wide grin, he approaches the tree he can feel Rin and Kakashi have gone and hidden in. Holding up one of the two bottles he purchased at the liquor store at the edge of the village, he calls, "I have Shōchū!"
Rin and Kakashi drop down from the tree in a flash. As soon as they're on the ground, the Shōchū is wrenched from his hands. "Oh good," Kakashi says before he uncaps the drink and gulps some of it down.
"Hey!" he snaps, stealing it back as soon as Kakashi lets it fall from his lips. Huffing as he takes a swig himself, he makes a face before saying, "Remember we're sharing the bottle you jerk."
"Mph," grumbles the boy before he drops himself down to rest against the base of the tree he and Rin had tucked themselves in.
Rin takes a seat beside Kakashi. Obito passes down the bottle to her as she settles herself shoulder-to-shoulder with Kakashi. "Sorry we couldn't go into that bar, Kakashi," she says before she takes a sip that can only be described as dainty from the bottle that's only two-thirds full now.
He's glad he got a second one.
Kakashi flaps a hand and tucks his other behind his head. "Mah, don't apologize Rin. I don't even like bars."
Obito exhales and plonks down on Kakashi's other side. He takes another swig before he hands it to Kakashi. As the boy drinks, he says, "Why am I not surprised?" Then, he snickers and looks at his teammate. Kakashi's eyes are focused on Rin as he hands it off. "What is it about them? Too many people?" he jokes.
Kakashi turns his attention back to Obito. He stares at him and grumbles, "Too many drunk people."
Rin, who's finally decided to throw caution to the wind, coughs after a long swallow of the Shōchū. "We're all about to be drunk," she says. "What will you do then?"
"'S different," mumbles Kakashi, plucking at the fabric of his pants. "You're my team."
Rin grins and ruffles his hair, making him swat clumsily at her hand. "That's cute of you to say," she jokes. "And maybe you should take smaller sips. You're slurring already."
"Am not," denies Kakashi before taking another sip from the bottle that Rin has let drift back into his lap.
Obito rolls his eyes. Stubborn little ass. "Sure, Bakashi," he says. Making a grabbing-hand for the bottle, he demands, "Now gimme it back."
Kakashi's fingers don't resist as he snags it and, then, finishes off the bottle. Obito lets it roll away from them a little as he opens the second bottle.
As he christens the new Shōchū, Rin sighs. "This is nice," she murmurs. "We're all together again."
Obito smiles and passes her the bottle over the top of Kakashi's head. As she drinks and Kakashi glowers at him, Obito remarks, "It feels a bit like the last time too, doesn't it?" He exchanges glances with Rin and Kakashi, whose eyes, while glazed, are clearly paying attention to him. "We're about to bring about peace to our home again," he elaborates. "This time it will go better, no one's gonna die."
"Right," agrees Rin. She takes another sip and then lets the bottle fall to rest in her lap. "No one will die and we can be happy," she says with a sloppy smile.
"Happy," echoes Kakashi between them in a little voice so unlike his usual tone. "I like the sound of that," he admits, visible eye curving into a grin alongside his lips.
Obito feels something stick in his throat at the expression on the boy's face. To quickly dispel the tears in his eyes, he laughs and drags Kakashi under his arm, pulling in Rin too by her sleeve.
"C'mere," he says once they're both beneath his arm (Kakashi more than Rin). Settling more fully against the tree, he stares up into the foliage and says, "Ah, this is nice. Did you ever do anything like this with your friends in your dimension, Kakashi?"
"Mh, get drunk under a tree together you mean?" he asks and Obito decides to nod. Because why not? Maybe he'll get a good story for it. "No," continues the boy. Kakashi then chuckles. "I had a drunk tree-climbing contest with Gai once, though. Genma, Asuma, a couple of Chunin, Kotetsu and Izumo, were there, placing bets on us." Eyes far away, back in the world he came from, he remarks, "I'm pretty sure Asuma wasn't even drunk like the rest of us. He was just being an ass."
"Oh man! You became friends with Gai?" Obito exclaims, delighted to hear that in some world Gai got the chance to actually win Kakashi's respect and even friendship.
"No," says the boy with a twisted scowl. "We're rivals," he corrects.
Rin, who's definitely more than tipsy now, blurts, "That is adorable."
"Rin!" whines Kakashi in a pitch that is deeply unsettling to Obito. Man, he sounds like Naruto and his friends. It almost makes him feel bad for supplying him with alcohol.
Rin just shakes her head. "Sorry, but it is, Kakashi. I can't believe he out-stubborned you." She chuckles. "Rivals!"
Kakashi huffs and crosses his arms, falling into a sulky silence. It's short, however, because after Rin has given him back the Shōchū to drink from, he asks in a soft, hopeful tone, "…D'you think your Gai will want to have stupid contests with me when all of this is over?" Eyes on his knees, Kakashi admits, "He was one of my most precious people in the end."
Obito's eyes find Rin's over Kakashi's bowed head. The sadness he sees in her eyes he is sure is in his own too. Gently, Obito jostles Kakashi. "I'm sure he will," he tells the boy. Kakashi looks at him and he forces a smile. "Asuma, Genma, and everybody else will be happy to see and get to know you too."
Kakashi's expression is desperately hopeful and Obito begins to blink rapidly. He can't cry, damn it. Not now. The boy's gaze is abruptly drawn away by Rin who places a hand on his knee. Obito takes the chance to drink down more Shōchū as she tells Kakashi, "Gai was really sad when you died." Expression troubled, she admits "He… He really wasn't himself for a while after."
Obito winces as Kakashi's shoulders start to pull up near his ears, however, Rin stops their ascent in their tracks by grinning and saying, "I think we're going to see the best version of Gai yet when we bring you home to become his new rival!"
The boy looks at them then with a pensive expression, it slowly eases away and he nods. "Yeah, you will," he agrees with a smile.
-O-
Obito and Rin share grins as they stare at the slack face of Kakashi curled against the base of the tree. At some point in the last hour, as they chatted, Kakashi passed out. Reaching down, it takes Obito a couple of tries, but he gets a good hold on Kakashi and lifts him from the ground.
The boy's heft surprises him. For as lithe as Kakashi is, he's not light. He has a lot of muscle hidden in his scrawny limbs. Staring into the face of the boy, Obito turns to Rin and asks, "Should we pull up his mask y'think?"
Rin continues to roll out their palettes side by side. As she does, she lifts her head and stares up at a patch of sky that can be seen between some branches overhead. "Hmm…" she hums. Looking over her shoulder, she asks Obito, "What if he needs to puke later? He did drink like a bottle's worth of Shōchū."
"Good point," agrees Obito as he comes to lay Kakashi on the middle one. That way, they can protect him if the need arises. It's not like he will be able to defend himself in this state. "Let's lay him on his side and I think he'll be fine for the night," suggests Rin as she helps to arrange the boy. When they are done, standing side-by-side as they inspect their job well done, Rin clucks, "Poor thing, he doesn't know his limit anymore."
Obito shakes his head, only to wince. The forest is spinning. When stuff stops moving, he asks, "He really downed almost a whole bottle?"
"Yeah," she answers. "I watched you two as you were sharing that first bottle especially," she tells him.
Obito whistles, though, it sounds wetter than he expected so he stops. "He must have crazy tolerance as an adult," he remarks. Then he snickers. "Not that I would expect any less from 'Kashi."
Rin slaps a hand over his mouth and giggles. "Shh!" she hisses. "Obito, he hated that nickname more than Bakashi!"
He grins at her and steps away, chanting as he does, "'Kashi, 'Kashi, 'Kashi!" As he teases her, he almost trips into Kakashi, righting himself only at the last moment.
"Obito!" she yelps as he freezes to stare at their passed-out teammate.
Thankfully, Kakashi does not stir. He sighs with relief and turns a puppy-dog look on Rin. "Sorry," he tells her.
She pats his shoulder. "It's okay," she assures him. "We're drunk."
"Yeah…" he agrees.
Rin goes to one of the palettes and tugs it to lay perpendicular to Kakashi. "I think I'll lay at Kakashi's head," she says.
Obito praises her. "Good thinking. If he pukes, you'll be right there to stop him from suffocating on it."
"Yup," she agrees as she lays down on the palette, eyes fixed on Kakashi's mop of gray hair.
Obito stays standing. He's going to take the first watch he thinks. "Hey, Rin?" he calls.
"What?" she questions, looking up from the boy.
He doesn't mean to tell her. Not now, but he's drunk and thoughts are liable to slip out through his mouth. "I think I want him to live with me," he says.
She lifts her head, eyes wide. "Obito…"
"No, listen," he begs, dropping to the ground next to her. Lifting a hand into the air, he starts to list off his points. "He doesn't have a home. He doesn't really know our village. He wouldn't be alone. Living with me… Could be good."
She is quiet for a time. "It would be," she admits finally. Then, before Obito can release the tension in his belly, she frowns. "The problem is, how are you going to convince him? He's independent like no one I've ever met before or since."
Obito pauses. Rin has a point. If he wants Kakashi to agree to live with him, Obito is going to have to come up with an inarguable reason or find the right moment when Kakashi's guard is down to manipulate him. "I'll think about it," he says. He smiles at her in a way he hopes feels more confident than he is. "We got time, don't y'think?"
"Yeah," she agrees, eyes softening.
He starts to fiddle with his goggles around his neck. "It's really a good idea?" he asks, feeling less confident now that it's dawning on him just how hard it's going to be to persuade Kakashi.
"It is," Rin assures, reaching over Kakashi's head to pat his leg. "Kakashi… Kakashi deserves to feel the anticipation that comes with having someone waiting for you. The warmth of being welcomed home at the door and having dinners and bento boxes made specially for him. The companionship of sharing a living room with somebody while you do your own things." Voice gentling, she tells Obito, "You'd give him those things."
The turmoil that gripped Obito melts away. Rin always knows just how to strengthen his resolve when it wavers. "Thanks, Rin."
Rin smiles. Then, half-warning, half-teasing, she says, "Just remember Kakashi likes to needle people. He won't go easy on you just because you're living together."
He chuckles. "Does he ever?"
Thank you all a million for reading and let me know your thoughts with a review