When you love someone, you love all of them
Obito and Kakashi started dating, they know each other as the people they are today, but not much about their respective pasts. Obito wants to come clean and Kakashi gets lawyered.
I was reluctant about writing this chapter, I don't think that lengthy expositions are interesting, specially not in a romantic story, I think they break the rhythm, they are not very realistic, and they always sound forced. Having said that, I needed to write this because I have a lot of knots to tie in the plot, so I have only myself to blame for this. I tried to make this the most fluid and realistic I could, hope it doesn't come across as boring or confusing.
I realize this chapter might have been a bit too dark for this series, but believe it or not, most of Obito's backstory was already accounted for in my head when I first started this whole thing, I just never thought it would be out there in the light. I always knew he had a shitty life, but I might have gone a bit too wild, sorry and hope this don't turn you off!
Having said that, we still have another chapter on the heavier side to go, with angst/hurt/comfort, when we discuss Kakashi's past, this will be chapter 5 (Drunk special agents tell the best tales), besides that, is just our regular scheduled program of fluff and cuteness.
Shit, Kakashi was pretty sure it was against the law to be this happy. He was lazing around in a Sunday afternoon with his boyfriend and his dogs on the couch. He was reading Icha-Icha for millionth time, which only made him appreciate the effort Ero Sanin put into the details. Every time he read, he got horny in a different way. Truly a literary experience.
Obito was torturing himself reading something by a depressed Russian guy who died of dysentery a century ago. Since they met all those months ago, it surprised him that Obito was an avid reader, going through several thick (boring) books in the time they have known each other. Maybe not having social media did give people time to do other stuff? Maybe the work at the bar didn't require to put in a lot of hours? Whatever was the reason, Kakashi was thoroughly impressed. Obito read classic literature, philosophy treaties, epic poems, history books, sad romances… the whole bingo of a book nerd. It was cute, even if most of this stuff was too difficult or downright depressing to be considered bedtime stories. Kakashi didn't understand how he was the submissive during sex when Obito was clearly the masochist in this relationship.
They were sitting on the sofa with Kakashi's feet on Obito's lap and Bisuke on Kakashi's lap when he heard a dull thud of the thick book his boyfriend was reading being closed with more force than required.
"Babe, let's get wasted."
"What."
"Let's empty that fridge, c'mon." Obito lightly patted Kakashi's feet, which he raised them without even thinking, and got out to go to the kitchen, all dogs following him interested in what he was about to do and hoping to sneak some food.
Kakashi followed him too. Like the lovesick puppy he was.
Obito closed the fridge and raised two cans of beers. "Are you up for it?"
"Up for getting wasted?" Kakashi asked with suspicion.
"Well, just a little buzzed is more than enough."
"Alright then." Kakashi shrugged and moved to grab a can from Obito's hand and open it. "Kampai."
"Kampai." Obito smiled nervously as they cheered and took the first sip.
Kakashi sat on the table comfortably nursing his beer, but Obito also brought a bottle of sake for them, taking the seat at the head of Kakashi's small table.
"I don't know if I'm in the mood for sake."
"It's not for you, it's for me." Obito explained with a sigh that amused Kakashi, despite his weird behavior.
"And why is that?" He asked with a smirk.
"Because my bastard of a boyfriend is a fucking light weight, and it takes me three times more booze to be on the same level as him."
"Hey! No need to attack my weak liver!" Kakashi laughed and poked Obito's cheek, sounding more annoyed than he really was. His friends mocked him a lot about his low resistance to alcohol, and now he would take Obito's jokes too.
Obito caught Kakashi's hand in his before he retreated it completely and kissed the palm of his hand, making him feel a bit coy under the piercing gaze of those deep black eyes.
"And why are we getting drunk for?" He managed to stammer as he brought his hand back, away from Obito's full lips and towards the beer can.
"I gotta be drunk for what I'm about to do." Obito laughed bitterly and Kakashi got worried for him. He moved his chair to get closer to Obito trying to gauge his expression.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked and worry showed in his voice.
Obito downed his saucer of sake and let his head hang on Kakashi's shoulder. "I… was thinking… I don't know what to do, because…" Obito grunted in frustration against Kakashi's t-shirt without lifting his head, and he sounded like a cute tsundere for a bit. "If I told you everything… what if you don't love me anymore? I'm afraid you'll leave me."
Oh, so this is what the beer it's about. Kakashi cradled Obito's head in his arms, trying to show him his love and assure him.
"I know you did bad things before Obito, but you've gone to jail, right? You've settled the score with the law already."
Obito snorted and shook his head without lifting it from Kakashi's neck and shoulder. "Not nearly enough."
"Didn't you make a deal with your prosecutor?"
"Yeah, but it's not what you're thinking." Sighed sounding frustrated again.
"Then what is it?"
"I… fuck, this is so fucking hard, I said I wasn't gonna sugarcoat this for you just cause you're a cop, but fucking hell! I don't wanna talk about it, you'll break up with me for sure." Obito muttered and mumbled against Kakashi's shoulder, sounding frustrated.
"I don't get it, do you want to talk about it or not?"
"I… fuck, yes and no. I don't wanna say it, but I feel like I owe you. I want this dating thingy to start off strong. I never dated before, but all romantic comedies say that we should be truthful and shit."
His boyfriends words were so sweet, just thinking about how much he wanted them to work…Kakashi's heart was at overdrive, he hoped Obito couldn't hear it thumping against his ribs inside his chest.
"I love you Obito. I want this to work too, but you don't need to tell me anything if you're not comfortable." Inside Kakashi was praying that Obito would be comfortable with sharing every single detail with him. It would mean the world to Kakashi, to be so trusted. But he should also trust Obito. Trust that no matter what his past hides, he was now the man he loved.
"I am comfortable with you, even too much sometimes…" Obito chuckled humorlessly.
"I'm glad to hear that."
They remained a couple of minutes in silence, and Kakashi didn't know what to say. How do you make your criminal boyfriend comfortable to share his past with you, a cop? It sounded tricky. When they started this thing they both knew it would be complicated, but having to face the music was another thing entirely.
"Alright." Obito suddenly raised his head from Kakashi's shoulder and sucked in a deep breath before starting to rant like he usually did when he was nervous. "Fuck it. Yeah, let's fucking do this, rip the band aid. Then you can break up with me and I'll die sad and alone, but it's better than leading you on. Right? Right. Right?"
Kakashi didn't know what to answer. Though he had a feeling he loved Obito too much to care about anything he'd done in the past, he didn't want to make empty promises. He leaned in to plant a kiss on Obito's lips.
"I love you. Thank you for considering telling me the truth." And honestly? Kakashi was already very happy with this, with Obito wanting to come clean.
"Right. Yeah. Right. So first things first." Obito got up from the table and reached for the book he was reading and there was an envelope acting as a bookmark between the pages. He handed it to Kakashi, and he couldn't help but frown at it. It looked… very official? "This is a copy of the non-disclosure agreement I signed years ago that prevents me from saying a word of what I'm about to tell you."
"This sounds… then can you tell me anything or not?" Kakashi wondered.
"I can. I will. But you need to sign it too."
"Obito, I can't sign stuff without reading it." Kakashi pulled the contract out of the envelope and unfolded it to look at the title. The sheets were still crisp, fresh off the printer. "How long have you been carrying this around?"
"I had it since Thursday… I was building up courage to… you know." Obito took a swing at the beer as he sat down again. "I met with auntie Miko for some legal counseling, and she advised me to include you in the agreement to protect you."
"Protect me?" Kakashi echoed with his eyebrows knitted together. Just what the hell was Obito messing with?
"Yeah, so she gave me two choices, and I'm gonna give them to you too: you don't get the complete info of the shit that went down and don't need to sign anything, or you sign it and I'll tell you the whole fucking ordeal."
"I see…" Kakashi muttered while looking at the multiple pages contract that looked much more intimidating now.
"Yeah, bet you didn't think dating me would be such a pain in the ass uh? Makes you reconsider!" Obito laughed a kind of maniac strained laughter then switched to a serious tone again. "No. Please don't reconsider." He pleaded.
That made Kakashi smile. Yes, this thing was a pain in the ass, but it was for Obito. As if Kakashi wouldn't do anything for this man already.
"I love you, did you know?"
"Yeah, but like, I kinda want you to keep loving me." Obito was nervously drawing patterns in the table, not standing to look at Kakashi, and that broke his heart a bit.
"Alright Obito. I'll sign it."
"Ok… yeah, ok. Ok. Fine. Peachy. Great."
"Do you have a pen?" Kakashi looked around for something he could sign the damn papers with.
"Oh… no, you need to sign it in front of some lawyer as witness and stuff, so we can go to auntie Miko's office next week to do it."
That sounded very official. But it's ok. It's Obito. It's for Obito. He'd make this work. "Alright then."
"Ok."
"So…?" He tried to gently tell his boyfriend to continue with the story. The secret story that nobody could know. It all sounded so ominous.
"Yeah, well. First thing is that this shitty contract exists because it involves a lot of powerful people."
Kakashi had guessed as much. Contracts weren't something common in criminal world, it was something from the rich people world. "Such as…?"
"Well, Madara for starters." Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise. "That prick Danzo." His eye grew again, this was serious Danzo was still an active officer. "And do you know Otsutsuki Kaguya?"
Kakashi was afraid his face might be frozen in complete state of shock. "You mean the Minister of Justice?"
"Yeah, well, back then she was just the head of the Cabinet Office."
"Just. Of course." She had direct access to the prime minister, it was far from just a small thing. If Obito's contract reached all the way up there, Kakashi wasn't surprised he'd been so reticent about coming clean.
"So the thing is, to put it in a very simple way, I used to be second in command in a big crime syndicate that doesn't even exist anymore, the head was this creep, Zetsu."
Kakashi never heard the name, and he shook his head to Obito. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"Nobody knew shit about him, nobody knew him on the streets, he entered the syndicate instantly as the second in command of the previous boss, so it's not like the climbed on the ladder from inside, so we all guessed somebody somewhere pulled some strings. And before that, the shithead was a fucking ghost." Obito drink another sip of beer and looked at Kakashi like he was gauging his reaction. "One day out of the blue, he kills the old boss and everyone loyal to him. A real bloodbath."
Ok, that last part got a reaction out of him. "Shit, this sounds like a yakuza movie." Kakashi muttered and Obito chuckled humorlessly.
"Listen tight doll, there's more. So, back then, I was just a small-time crook, like, I was responsible for the cocaine and heroin operation in the Tokyo area, not big enough to be shot in the back and end up in chopped up parts in the sewer, if you know what I mean."
"I don't know Obito, that sounds big to me." Obito was obviously downplaying his… achievements? Was this the word he should use? He was certainly downplaying somethings, Kakashi just didn't know if it was unconscious or intentional, trying not to scare his cop boyfriend off.
"Yeah, ok, maybe, but nothing to get killed over. So me, Kisame, Konan, Nagato and Yahiko all start following this Zetsu guy, right? Since we don't wanna rigor our mortis any time soon. And you know, when half the leaders show up dead one morning, there's a lot of new career opportunities, positions open, and we all climbed up following Zetsu." It was hard putting a timeline for Obito's past together, so Kakashi kept interrupting him and asking questions.
"They were all with you back then already? How old were you?"
"I was twenty, the guys were older than me by three or four years. But yeah, I had been arrested a few times by then." Kakashi gave Obito a meaningful look, because he knew he had been arrested more than a few times. "Maybe a lot of times. It didn't matter, the syndicate lawyer was a sneaky bastard, he could get Hitler out of jail if he wanted. So, by then I had met Kisame and Yahiko inside, then Konan and Nagato on the outside and brought them all in to the operation with me. Well, you know, life goes on and I'm getting more and more stuff to do, Zetsu likes me, I become his right-hand man, and money is coming in, fentanyl is on the high, so my operation was the biggest one in the syndicate, so everything's just peachy."
"Then what happens?"
"Life, right? Shit hits the fan. Me and Konan find out about a shadow operation that Zetsu had on the side, since we're the ones keeping the books. It's nothing big so it took us some time to start asking questions, but Madara's name keeps popping up."
"He was the chief of police at the time?" Madara was also the uncle Obito came to live with in Tokyo, he remembers this information from months ago, so certainly it was awkward to see your uncle's name on this context.
"Yeah, but you know, dirty cops, right? We were not surprised, it's not that rare, I'd even say is the rule. I got furious at the time, because Madara always acted so high and mighty, but he was just a dirty cop like all of them." Obito's hands left the beer on the table and were flexing as if he was ready to break something, be it the table or Madara's head. He let out a frustrated noise and dragged his hand back and forth through his hair. "Whatever, I was pissed, but me and Konan didn't question anything, after all, Danzo was the head of narcotics department back then and he was in our pocket."
"Danzo is a dirty cop?" Shit. This is huge. Madara was retired already, but Danzo was still working, it was bad.
Obito looked confused. "You didn't know? I thought you and your friends hated his guts because he was dirty."
"We heard rumours here and there, after Minato-san took over but to think…" There was now hard evidence, which internal affairs and audit departments had been looking for years and never finding one single slip from Danzo.
"Yeah, well, he's textbook dirty cop, not only with our syndicate, but everyone in town. And he had big influence in homicide investigations too, so he was the best dirty cop ever to have on your side."
"Now I understand why Tsunade-san was pushing for his retirement since she took office. Shit Obito, he's still in the homicides department." Kakashi's head was going at a hundred kilometers per hour, there was so much they could do with this information alone. "We have to do something, tell someone that-"
"No, Kakashi, forget it." Obito said in a decisive tone and Kakashi felt like a bucket of ice fell on his head. Obito's expression looked pained but he shook his head in certainty. "That's why we have the non-disclosure agreements, you can't say a word of what I'm telling you."
"But Obito-" Kakashi was outraged. It's not just Danzo, they could uncover a whole web of dirty cops, bribery and corruption. I could make things better for a lot of people.
Obito just interrupted him without even hearing what he was going to say. "Kakashi, I know you wanna do the right thing, believe me I tried too, but I was too weak, we all were, there's no point in trying."
Kakashi hated this defeatist the-world-is-trash-there's-nothing-we-can-do-about-it speech "What- but then…"
"Look if it was just Danzo, it would be great, but there are a lot of powerful people involved, I told you."
Kakashi remained in silence for a while. He knew it would be hard, to learn about everything Obito knew. Kakashi knew it could put some strain on their recently formed relationship. It seemed like it was only the beginning of Obito's story and they were already tired and impatient.
"Obito, this is not right." He declared the obvious, hoping Obito would realize it too.
"Wait until you hear the rest."
"What rest?" Kakashi chastised himself when he let his voice get higher.
"Well, there's the Madara thing."
"You were bribing Madara too?"
"No, he wasn't in the payroll, he was in the client list."
Kakashi was so confused, he just blurted the first thing that came to mind before noticing how dumb it was. "Madara does drugs?"
The phrase was so absurd they stared at each other for a couple of seconds before both dissolved in laughter lifting a bit of the tension that sipped between them.
"Fuck! Imagine that! Kakashi please!" Obito returned to his serious tone before going on. "Madara was a client of the shadow operation Zetsu was taking care of."
Kakashi dreaded to ask this question, but he did anyway. "And what kind of service he requested?"
"Well… mostly he asked for assassinations, kill other criminals, other drug dealers and stuff. This kind of thing, well, you know it's pretty common. We were already gonna do it, kill the competition, so at first Konan and I didn't think it was a big deal that we were making money out of this."
The chief of police was using the services of drug dealers to kill another drug dealers? Was this some utilitarian politics of sticking to the lesser of two evils? And even if it was the lesser evil, what about their right to a defense attorney, and at least a semblance of a fair trial? And even worse than that, how could Obito talk about murdering other people so casually? Was this really the same person that put himself in danger to help Kakashi rescue a girl he didn't even know? How many people has he killed in the past?
There was a long pause, and Kakashi wondered if Obito had given up in telling him these things. Maybe his shock and disapproval showed in his face and Obito saw it. He didn't know how to feel. Obito's voice was darker when he started talking again.
"Then Madara started requesting assassinations of like, community leaders that were hiding local drug dealers, then activists for drug decriminalization, then union leaders, then left wing politicians, international envoys-"
"Obito, you're telling me the fucking chief of police was ordering your organization to kill politicians?"
It can't be true. Madara retired with honors, everybody loved him, people said he had an iron fist and got those criminality rates under control. This can't be it. He got the rates down by killing everyone? What-why-how? How did nobody notice this? This is not possible, somebody would have blown the whistle and… unless they too were in Madara's blacklist. He started killing to cover the killing. Oh god. Kakashi was not ready for that implication.
"Yeah, that's exactly it. And Zetsu carried it all out, like an obedient bitch, all of them. He didn't deny not even a single request from Madara." Obito took a sip of his beer again, that must warm by now. He was shaking his head and looking intently at a random spot on the table.
It took Kakashi a minute to digest that. "Obito, fuck, this…"
Obito sighed and nodded when Kakashi wasn't able to finish his sentence. "I know, it's bad. And we found out that the political targets had somethings in common, so we dig some shit out and find out that Zetsu is Kaguya's son."
"What the hell?" Kakashi leaned on the table to look at Obito. "She's not married! Her slogan is that she's married to her job!"
"I remember, but we found evidence that she got pregnant when she was a teen and had a baby in a catholic convent and kept it a secret from everyone. You know the Otsutsukis are very rich and powerful."
Shit this was getting ridiculous, Obito was starting to come up with random shit to tell Kakashi. That's the only logical explanation. This was straight out of a dorama or something. Unfortunately, his boyfriend's face held no mirth in it.
"And she was head of the prime minister Cabinet Office at the time?"
"Yeah, while making full use of her bastard son's services to kill her opposition."
"Obito that's so fucked up. Why aren't they all in jail?"
"Because of the non-discl-"
"Yes! I get it!" Kakashi interrupted Obito completely outraged. "It's because of this-this fucking thing that you signed!" Kakashi grabbed the stack of offending papers and threw in Obito's direction.
Obito dragged his chair back as if the papers in front of him burned, his voice was raising in response to Kakashi's own. "Kakashi, I had to! Ok? You think I don't want these mother fuckers locked away?"
"Well, do you?" Kakashi asked in an accusatory tone, raising an eyebrow, daring Obito to lie to him.
"Hey, I tried to!" Obito's fist met the table and he was yelling at this point. Kakashi didn't know what he was doing, he couldn't stop the venom poisoning his words.
"But did you really try Obito? To bring these people down?"
"Fuck off Kakashi!" Obito got up in an enraged sudden movement and his chair fell back. He was yelling and gesticulating, his face red, as if ready to punch someone. "I fucking did! We were all ready to go back to jail forever, to fucking die in jail just to testify against these assholes and lock them up for good. It's not my fault the whole fucking system is corrupt!"
They stared down at each other as some of the dogs started barking at the yelling. It was rare for them to hear this sort of noise and they must have felt the temperature of the kitchen rising. Obito's infinitely black eyes were full of clashing emotions, Kakashi felt swallowed by them, they were daring him to accuse Obito again, but he couldn't.
Kakashi was the first one to break away from their staring contest and let his head fall back staring at a random spot at the ceiling. What had he done? Accused his boyfriend of being conniving with this thing? What the hell? It almost sounded like he didn't trust Obito to begin with. They stayed in silence for a long time. He staring to the ceiling while he heard Obito shuffling the chair and sitting back at the table. There was a stain on the ceiling, right above the stove, some shades darker than the rest of the white, he needed to paint it eventually.
Shit. He hated this. He hated being cruel, knowing that he was capable of cruelty. He'd like to think of himself as above this kind of thing, but he was just regular trash. He trusted Obito, since the moment they met, he had not betrayed his trust once. Never. There was no reason to doubt his intentions even for what happened years ago. Kakashi just didn't have the complete information. And he accused Obito based on his outrage and self-righteousness alone. As if he could judge. He's done some nasty things in ANBU too, it doesn't matter that it was orders from above. Were they that different in the end? Even if he didn't love Obito, which he did, very much, was he in any position to judge?
"I'm really sorry I doubted you." He was the first one to speak up. He owed Obito a few apologies for his previous behavior.
"Kakashi, I-" Obito sounded calmer now too, he was going to say something idiotic about how he was the one to blame in this situation and it would be a lie. Kakashi interrupted him before he said any nonsense.
"No, really. I should know better, you… it's like Minato-san said, you're a good person with shitty choices." Kakashi finally tore his gaze from the stain on the ceiling and looked at Obito, those beautiful black eyes looked so much gentler now. "Since we met… you never gave me reason not to trust you. Sorry I didn't honor that."
Obito's eye widened as if in surprise, and he averted Kakashi's gaze for a spot on the table and muttered. "… Thanks. It's ok. I know this sounds… dodgy."
"It does sound dodgy, but I need the whole information before going around pointing fingers. Tell me the rest." Kakashi sighed.
"Can I smoke?"
"Lit up one for me too." Obito nodded and took the pack and lighter out of his pocket. Kakashi got up to get something to use as ashtray.
"Well… Konan and Nagato got the evidence and went to talk with the only cop they trusted in this world, Jiraya."
"Jiraya was in this too?!" He didn't expect to hear that name here.
"Do you know him?" Obito was holding two cigarettes in his fingers as Kakashi returned with a sake saucer to put between them in the table.
"I know of him. He worked at the station too. He, Tsunade and Orochimaru were famous detectives before the snake bailed on them. My father worked with him." Kakashi supplied to Obito, while the other put two cigarettes in his mouth and lit them.
"Well, remember that cop that I told you were like a father to Konan, Nagato and Yahiko? It's him."
"You're kidding me." Kakashi grabbed the cigarette and honestly, he was starting to share Obito's feeling that they should be doing this drunk. His feelings were all over the place, his memories too. He turned his attention to his forgotten beer and took long gulps from it.
"It's a small world… but anyway I was a bit afraid of him being a dirty cop too, this was fucking sensitive info, but he helped us despite everything."
"Despite everything?"
Obito sighed and waved his hand. "They weren't on the best terms back then. Konan, Nagato and Yahiko blamed Jiraya for walking out on them, Jiraya was disappointed they became criminals, it wasn't pretty."
To think all sorts of things were happening at the station before he even enrolled in the police academy. By Obito's account he was a bit over twenty, so around the time he was leaving the ANBU, he was twenty-two? Must be around that, He was only one semester under Madara as the chief of police, maybe not even that, a few months? Tsunade took his place around that time, soon after he joined the regular forces. Certainly, Madara's sudden retirement must have something to do with what Obito's telling him, He was old, but he had maybe three or four more years before he retired. Obito's life has been affecting Kakashi's long before they met. It really was a small world.
"But he put that aside and called Tsunade to help us too, and she got her father and her uncle on the case too to help us, because the Senjus always had a lot of influence in the police together with the Uchihas."
"You mean Hashirama and Tobirama?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't enough. They said we needed someone in the prosecutor's office we could trust, and I told them about auntie Miko."
"And did she build the case against her own uncle?" It sounded like asking an Uchiha to accuse the other could be a bad move.
"Auntie Miko was never afraid of doing the right thing, that's why she did law instead of going into the police. She said she was inspired by my mother." Kakashi found it cute how much Obito's voice mellowed, and his chest surged with pride when talking about Mikoto. "And she tried her best, building the case in secret, but it was hard, most of it depended on our testimonies, there wasn't enough hard evidence for us to get away from it."
It all clicked for Kakashi. "Shit. That's why you said you were ready to go back to jail to put Madara and the rest behind bars too."
"Yeah, if I was to testify, I couldn't do it without facing all my charges, my testimony would buy me some time off my sentence, but if they prosecuted me for everything they had against me, it would be at least forty years in prison."
"No!" This sudden rush to protect Obito took over Kakashi. Obito couldn't go back to prison, he couldn't be away from Kakashi anymore. This strange possible world where they never even met because he would be doing time made something churn in his chest, something like panic and grief. He got it under control before nodding for Obito to continue. "Fuck Obito."
"It was only a hard choice for me. Maybe a bit for Kisame too. Yahiko was already in for life, Nagato and Konan would get light sentences since they didn't dirtied their hands too much with the syndicate, so really, it was just me and Kisame that were in a dilemma. He jumped out of the wagon and dropped from the face of the earth when we proposed this, saying we were insane and to not trust the pigs and shit. I don't blame him, if I had been a rational person, I'd do it too. Skip the city, the country, change names…But we thought we were gonna do something good, worthwhile you know? I said fuck it and we went ahead the same way."
They stayed in silence for a bit while Kakashi digested this information, both puffing their cigarettes, nursing their warm beer. Obito was going to go down shooting. He'd end up forty years behind bars only to drag Danzo, Madara, Zetsu and Kaguya with him. And probably another big list of dirty cops and political intrigue. It was going to be a big deal for internal affairs, so he could see how nobody would want that, not even people that was not implicated in the scheme. It would be bad publicity for everybody, every cop, every politician, no one would be safe.
"Since nobody is jail now, this means you never got through with the testimonies, right? What happened?"
Obito scratched his hair, another nervous tic that Kakashi noticed over the months they spent together. It made his shaggy hair look even messier. "Word got out, there was probably a mole with the cops or the lawyers, we don't know exactly. When they found out we were gonna betray them, the threats started, the assassination attempts, it wasn't pretty."
"Did something happen to you?" Kakashi's eyes widened at how quickly things escalated. As soon as they start putting together the case they became targets.
"I got shot in the chest, ended up in the hospital it was a whole fucking thing. Yahiko was stabbed in prison, more than once, Nagato got a beating, Konan too. There was one time that they put a bomb on her motorcycle, luckily it didn't go off. We were being hunted I swear, a lot, and I mean a whole fucking lot of people wanted us dead because of this."
"Holy fuck Obito." That same panic took over Kakashi again, his stupid brain torturing him with what ifs, and things that never happened. What if Obito had died on the surgery table? What things went down differently? Better not to entertain these anxious thoughts.
"But we were criminals, people didn't care if we died, we-"
"I care." Kakashi said before he could contain himself and Obito smiled at him.
"Thanks, my love. I wish I had you by my side back then, things would have been better." He caressed Kakashi's cheek, and he couldn't help but lean into the warm touch. "You know what I mean, they wouldn't put us under witness protection, or assign police officers to protect us just because the crime lords put bounties on our heads. This whole shit show took a turn only when auntie Miko was kidnapped."
"By Zetsu? Why wasn't she under protection?"
"Say what you will about Zetsu, that he's a double-personality-psychopath with a torture kink or whatever, but the guy always finishes a job. There was no amount of police protection that could get in his way of finishing his job. And let's be honest, a lot of cops weren't happy with her neither. So Zetsu got her and told us to drop everything."
"How did she escape?" As of now Uchiha Mikoto alive and very well, thank you very much, happily married, a mother of two and a successful career thank god.
"Fugaku went absolutely berserk. He left Itachi and Sasuke with trusted people, and he didn't sleep until he got her back. I don't like him much, he's too serious, too ambitious for me, but let me tell you: that man loves auntie Miko like nothing in this world. He enlisted uncle Minato and Kushina-nee to help him, and they didn't rest a wink until they found her. I remember them going day after day with the same clothing, living on coffee only, reviewing every video, every audio, searching every corner."
"I never heard about this from them." If Mikoto already had Sasuke, then Kakashi was around twenty two, or twenty three, joining the police academy, where Minato and Kushina were his senseis.
"All this is a secret, all our files are classified, and some of the paper trail was even burned. Trust me Kakashi, if uncle Minato and Kushina-nee never told you about this, they were protecting you."
"I see… and they found Mikoto-san? Or was this why you had to sign this thing?"
"Tsunade was ready to give up the case to save her, Hashirama and Tobirama were against it, the sort of sacrifice-one-to-save-the-rest kind of mentality, but she told them to shove it up their asses. We knew auntie Mikoto would be mad at us for giving up, but she would be alive, and everybody agreed it was the best course of action. It was only after five days that uncle Minato stormed the place she was being held and saved her, and they lost their leverage. Still, we decided to negotiate."
"That's when you all decided to sign a contract?"
"Yeah, I mean, what else could you do? We all sat down and demanded that if we were gonna keep quiet, at least drop off the bounties and the criminal charges, and leave us all the fuck alone and they agreed. Nobody was going to jail, not us, not them."
"This is how it went down. That's why you say you never paid your price for your crimes. You guys are almost untouchable now."
"Yeah, we did get some perks, it was the best we could do out of a shitty situation." Obito smiled bitterly and put out the cigarette in the sake saucer. "They were more powerful than us Kakashi, had more people, more resources, more money, were willing to go further. You don't fuck with people like that. We were all lucky to get out alive in the first place, and place everybody under some semblance of legal protection was very good too."
"Even Itachi and Sasuke I imagine." Obito nodded in agreement.
"Auntie Miko negotiated stuff from every possible angle, she really tied it all up. She even insisted in a line that said that if anyone who signed this shit died, it should be investigated as politically motivated murder and all evidence would be leaked to the press and brought to the spotlight again, apparently that's a thing you can do, I didn't know."
No wonder Uchiha Mikoto was the rising star of prosecutor's office. She did think about everything.
"This is insane."
"In the end we got a judge to pardon Yahiko, Kisame was granted immunity too, wherever he was. Anything against me, Nagato, and Konan was instantly dropped. Jiraya was so disappointed with the state of things he left the police. Madara was forced to resign, and Tsunade was appointed as the new chief of police and been trying to clean that gutter ever since. Uncle Minato too, he got promoted to head of narcotics when Danzo was demoted and had the mission to try to clean the department, same thing for my aunt, the head of prosecutor's office was forced to resign too, because he was in the whole scheme, and auntie Miko took his place. Zetsu was never found after he signed the paperwork, so the syndicate crumbled completely without a new boss, there was a big war for our territory and suppliers that surely gave uncle Minato a big headache. Kaguya got out without even a scratch, and her political career is rising."
"This is just so unreal to me, how they all got out without even a slap on the wrist."
"It's like I said, I'm not complaining, I got some perks thanks to all this negotiation, but at what cost? I can't even imagine what would have happened if we followed through with this. Me and the guys always talk about how maybe we settled our legal debt with society, but we're still in karmic debt with the universe, and the samsara, or whatever you wanna call it. That's why we decided that enough is enough, we were getting too old for this shit, this running-from-the-law stuff, and opened the bar."
"I'm glad you did. I got to meet you." Kakashi said and he was feeling so silly and lovey-dovey, but it was the truth.
"Thank you, my darling. I'm glad I met you too." Obito grabbed Kakashi's hand and placed a kiss on top of it. "And when I say I'm not going back to that life, I mean it. Even if I wanted to, which I don't, the second I do, I put a target on my back. Honestly, we got lucky, I owe these people my life, because otherwise, I'd just be another dead criminal on the gutter."
"I see… Fuck Obito, sorry, I'm so shocked, I don't know how to react to some things."
"It's ok love. I can't imagine." They stayed in silence again. Each lost in their own heads, staring at different spots in the table but seeing nothing.
Kakashi was shocked, but now everything made more sense. Why Obito seemed to have done a lot of bad shit in his life and got away with it, same for the guys at Ame. Why he knew Minato and Kushina, his connections with the rest of the Uchihas. Things were a bit clearer, and even if it was a big pill to swallow, it was all in the open now. Still there were still some blanks in his story.
"But… why did you get into drugs in the first place anyway?" Kakashi broke their silence with a question he's been meaning to ask for a long time.
"When I was forced to leave Kyoto to live with Madara here in Tokyo I was… going through a lot, I had just lost a friend, I was in a new city and there was a lot of stuff happening."
"Why didn't you go live with your aunt? Were you close to Madara?" Surely his aunt was a much better choice, he seemed really attached to her.
"Hell no! Never seen the mother fucker in my life before he came to get me. Auntie Miko was still in college back then I think, by our age difference she was 21 years old. She told me once when I was a kid, she was gonna get me from the shrine after she graduated and started making money, but I had an accident back then and I had to stay at the hospital for a long time. The shrine couldn't pay, and auntie Miko didn't have the money either, so Madara paid for everything, and I went to live with him after I was discharged."
"Oh I see…" It must have been really stressful, for a series of bad shit to happen to Obito one after the other. Lose a friend, be at the hospital, leave his home at the shrine to live with a person he didn't know in a different city, going to a new school. It all seemed too much.
"And of course, back then I didn't know what Madara was up to, but I didn't like him either way, he wanted to put me in military school, wanted me to become a cop, so I don't know, I started acting out." Obito averted Kakashi's eyes in favor of a wall and let out a hollow chuckle that shot pain through Kakashi's chest. "He also had this bad habit of beating me up and call it 'strict education' and 'tough love'. I'm glad he is a closeted gay that never found happiness in life and never had kids of his own, can you imagine if he had?"
Kakashi's jaw was hanging open, and he tried to close it several times, trying to say something. "Obito, that was-"
"Domestic violence, I know now. It took me a while to connect the dots. Only after I distanced myself, I understood, but back then I felt so terribly alone and just… guilty. Over everything. So much guilt, like all the time, for what happened to everyone in my life, I felt like a burden, felt guilty for being born, it didn't seem like I was making anybody's life happier, or easier. I mean…" Obito groaned deeply and let his forehead rest on the table. "I don't know, I'm not making much sense right now."
"It's ok. These things rarely make sense." Kakashi ran his fingers through Obito's hair in what he hoped was a soothing manner. Obito turned his head to the right still lying on the table, so he could look at Kakashi and send him a small sad smile, and Kakashi felt like crying.
"I just started using whatever kids at school had at hand. I was around thirteen? No, fourteen. Mostly stolen booze, a lot of pot, Adderall from the rich kids that had prescriptions, and dealing was good money, so I did a bit of that too. When I was sixteen Madara caught me and gave me an epic beating let me tell you, I think I broke a rib when it went down. For an old mother fucker, he sure was strong. After that I left his home and well, the rest is your typical drug dealer story. Jumping from couch to couch until the syndicate took me in."
It was so weird to Kakashi how he and Obito started at similar points and became such different people. If Kakashi hadn't gone to the army and then ANBU to smother his grief, he knew very, very well that he was a second away from turning to drugs, and who knows? Maybe it would be him behind bars. Had Madara been a not-so-horrible guardian and human being, Obito could have become a cop like the chief of police wanted, of maybe followed his parents and his aunt footsteps and becoming a lawyer. Strange how everything was at the same time inconsequential and fundamentally important in forming the people they were today.
"But your charges, you told be you were in for other stuff too, not only drug possession." He asked after a bit of silence.
"Oh yeah, I mean, I was in for a lot of shit, but it was mostly related to stuff I was doing for the syndicate."
"Even prostitution?" Obito's eyes got the biggest Kakashi's ever seen them due to his shock.
"Oh… I told you that?" He asked in a nervous voice.
"Yes." Kakashi said trying not to sound demending. This was clearly something Obito didn't want to talk about, and honestly, his boyfriend already told Kakashi a lot of things, much more than he must be comfortable with, no need to keep poking at old wounds.
"Yeah, well, how do I explain this? My addictions started getting out of hand when I was at the high of my criminal career. I had a lot of shit to do, pressure from Zetsu, people under me trying to kill me to get my place, it's all pretty standard for a big operation like what I had, but let me tell you, it's very stressful."
"Shit Obito, we have some pretty different standards for stressful career." Kakashi said and Obito laughed at that, nodding his head.
"Let's just say everything went to shit with heroin. Up until then I was doing ok." Obito said with a confident smile, a bit uncanny due to the topic at hand.
"I doubt it." Kakashi declared in a sarcastic tone. Substance abuse is not something to be treated lightly, but by what Obito said earlier, it didn't all start with heroin, he had a long track record with many drugs.
"Ok, I wasn't fine, but I was still kinda in control of my body. After heroin, shit hit the fan in all possible ways. It put me in a really bad place, then we started building the case against Zetsu, I stopped making money when he found out, I had to bribe some hired hitmen, buy out some bounties, my place was sacked once, heroin is expensive… anyway, bottom line was that I was broke. I needed to make money fast, you know how it is." Obito shrugged as if it was not a big deal.
Kakashi felt an impending sense of dread poking at his stomach, making him feel nauseous. "Oh god, Obito, don't say it."
"Yeah, you can make money real fast as a hooker. And it's just a minor misdemeanor, so you only spend the night in jail, no biggie." Obito shrugged again as if he didn't just say he was a prostitute.
Something downed on Kakashi right then and he really felt like he would get sick at the thought.
"Wait, don't tell me… your bad experiences in sex…?" Shit, he couldn't even say it.
"Relax Kakashi it was just a few times, but yeah. I mean, nobody pays a rent boy for him to top." Obito shrugged yet again, and fucking god! This was just too horrible, what the entire fuck?
Kakashi got up to his feet and hugged Obito's head and shoulders. He promised himself, he would protect Obito, from everything and anything, nothing, fucking nothing would touch the man he loved. He would never let him have a bad experience in life ever again, from now on, he would make everything he could, spend every waking second to make Obito happy and safe.
"Holy fuck. Obito, oh Obito, I'm sorry."
"It's in the past Kakashi, it's ok. Besides, I love it when you fuck me, you taught me how to enjoy it again." Obito said with a smile in his voice.
Oh boy, Kakashi was happy that this wasn't an issue for him anymore, but what he said just made it all the worse? Fuck. Fucking hell. He couldn't even begin to phantom how it must be to feel like this.
"Fuck… Fuck."
"Kakashi please, it's water under the bridge."
"If you had issues up until you met me, it's clearly not gone under any bridge!" Kakashi couldn't help when he raised his voice. He was so angry and disgusted by what people had done to his Obito, his precious person, the man he loved. He wanted to hunt down every person that ever harmed him and put a bullet between their eyes.
"Good thing I met you, right?" Obito laughed again and it hurt Kakashi even more.
"No use trying to charm your way out of this out. God…" Kakashi muttered trying to hold Obito closer, harder. He wanted to hide Obito inside his chest to protect him from his own past, and it pained him so much that he was so useless in this fucked up situation. There was nothing he could do.
"Well, that was a long time ago, I never caught anything, you know, in the STD department. And now I'm clean, really clean, I haven't used anything in years, and even when I see Hidan shooting up, it doesn't trigger me. Trust me, I don't miss it, not even a little."
Obito tapped at Kakashi's arm telling him to lose the tight grip of his hug, and he reluctantly did. He sat beside Obito and gave him some breathing room but didn't let go of his hand. He wasn't sure he would be able to let Obito get out of his sight to go to work tomorrow. Maybe he could call in sick. He wanted to be with Obito. He would take his boyfriend to the station if he didn't hate the place so much.
"When did you get clean?" Kakashi asked while rubbing his thumb against Obito's hand.
"A bit after we opened the bar. Nagato caught me doing it in the kitchen and the three of them practically chained me to a bed and made me go cold turkey."
"That's a bit rough, but I guess their hearts were in the right place?" Kakashi tried to lighten up a bit his tone. He was worried sick for Obito, but didn't want to make his boyfriend feel guilty for telling him this, or responsible in any way for his foul mood.
"Oh, it was very effective. Never felt so bad in my whole life. But after it, I never felt so good. They really got me back on my feet, I don't know where I would be if it wasnt for them. No, I do know, I'd be dead. Unidentified body in the morgue. Another junkie nobody will miss. Fuck, to think I used to sell this shit to people." Obito passed a hand through his hair and shook his head in disbelief.
"I… I will sound like an asshole, but I'm glad you're remorseful, for the drug dealing part. It's a serious thing, I've seen too many lives destroyed by drugs." That was true. Kakashi's helped too many addicts in his life, it was always heartbreaking.
Obito nodded vehemently. "I used to think that the world was beyond saving, I kinda still think it is, but that doesn't mean I want to make it all burn faster. I would say shit like, 'if I don't sell it to them, another person will', or 'I'm not the problem, it existed before me'. And it's hard, because it's true, but that doesn't wash away how you're contributing to the destruction of your clients' lives."
Kakashi's chest swelled in pride at Obito's words. He was still a cynic person all in all, but it's he said, that doesn't mean you're not responsible for your actions. "It's a complicated problem. It doesn't have a simple solution, and we're all part of it."
"Such an upright citizen my boyfriend." Obito's eyes got even sadder at that. "Fuck Kakashi… I did so much shit in my life. I fucked up all the time. Everything I touch rots and dies. I… I love you so much, I feel like, maybe I might be a good person when I'm with you, I… please don't leave me. I know I'm trash, but please!"
Obito started rambling nervously, desolate black eyes looking at Kakashi, pleading with him. He was still afraid Kakashi would leave him for his past mistakes. How could he? He loved Obito too much. Besides, he wasn't that person anymore, so who the fuck cared? Not Kakashi. The Obito sitting in his kitchen right now is this amazing person that makes his heart stop and jump out of his chest at the same time. Kakashi didn't entertain no possible future in which he wasn't with Obito, that was out of question.
He got up and hugged Obito again. "Obito, my love. I love you so much, like I've never loved anything int my life, I will never leave you, no matter what you tell me about your past. You're stuck with me forever if it's up to me."
"You mean it?" Obito's gazed turned up to Kakashi and he could see hope in those dark eyes.
"If you'll have me, I'll be with you always. I don't give a fuck about what you did before."
"Oh thank fuck." Obito grabbed Kakashi and turned him to sit in his lap. Obito locked his arms in a tight grip around Kakashi's waist and chest. "I love you, Kakashi."
"I'm not going anywhere my love." Kakashi assured him.