They are between Iwa and Ame when they receive news from Konoha. Obito is the one to open the scroll. As he reads the contents, his hands grow shaky and tears fill his eyes. Rin and Kakashi notice and they ask him what's happened, they pull at the scroll in his fingers.
He refuses to let go and hunches himself protectively around it. He needs to finish. He needs to know what's happened because there is no way he will let this news be passed on to Rin and Kakashi through such impersonal writing. Finally, Obito reaches the end of the scroll and a sob lurches out of him.
Nika and Sasuke survive.
Letting the scroll fall from his numb fingers, he turns to Rin and Kakashi and says, "The Uchiha—"
"No," breaks in Kakashi, voice strangled and visible pupil a dot in the center of his steel-gray iris. "Don't say it's happened here," he begs.
Rin, next to him, covers her mouth. Eyes large with terror, she sputters, "N-Nika?"
"Fine," hiccups Obito. "Sasuke too."
The kunoichi falls into him, dragging them both to their knees with a loud wail of relief and grief. As Rin clings to him, Obito stares over her head at Kakashi. The boy has taken a step back from them, visibly trembling. In the silence between them, an odd, unsettling feeling begins in his stomach. At the same time, something cruel and unfair, whispers in his mind:
Is this his fault?
Obito breaks eye contact with Kakashi in favor of soothing Rin. "It's okay," he tells her. "Nika is fine and we'll go home to her."
Kakashi makes a noise. "Our mission—"
Obito sends the teenager a scorching glare, cutting off the rest of his words. "I thought you said you'd learned the importance of people," he snaps.
The boy drops his gaze to his feet and Rin sniffles, too mixed up in grief to scold him. Or, maybe, she agrees with him. Obito doesn't know. Honestly, he doesn't care. All he needs right now is to go home.
To Nika.
Slowly, he eases himself and Rin back to their feet. "Come on," he says in a gentle tone. "Let's get everything together so we can leave."
As Rin nods and separates from him, Obito looks over at Kakashi again. The boy is staring over at him, hands in loose fists at his side, waiting for further instruction like the good little soldier he's always been before anything else.
-O-
Obito sees his clan buried on a hot day with Nika on his right and Sasuke on his left. Nika sniffles and whimpers, clutching one of his hands in a strangling grip while she clings to Rin with her other hand. Sasuke isn't crying. He's barely present at all. If Obito couldn't feel the boy's shoulder shifting with every breath under his hand, he might be persuaded to believe he's just another Uchiha corpse.
Sasuke has been swinging between something like catatonia and pure, exploding rage since they returned to Konoha. Obito doesn't try to stop it when it happens, he just takes the kid out to training fields so he can unleash. During those times he promises Sasuke things. Family, a lot. Maybe everyone else is dead, but him? Nika? They're still here. They love Sasuke, they will be here for him. Other times, he promises Sasuke a better world. One where he, nor anyone he cares about, will ever have to experience something like this again.
Obito never speaks of revenge, retribution. Such a mission will only destroy the kid and Obito can't bear to lose another person.
Not to mention he's pretty sure Kakashi is already on it.
Obito hasn't seen his teammate much at all since they returned to the village. Rin has at times. She says he's set himself on a clandestine mission to clean the rot out of their home. A part of Obito thinks he should be furious. Kakashi shouldn't be doing it all alone, or at least not without him.
But he's tired.
So damn tired.
He's trying to grieve his whole clan and care for a couple of deeply, horrifically traumatized kids at the same time. He doesn't have the energy to chase after Kakashi. Thankfully, Rin is doing better than him. She's nowhere near her top form, but at least she's keeping up with the little fool. Obito hates it, but he's decided to trust her, trust Kakashi, to fix their village around him and the kids.
They haven't been back a week and he has heard whispers about the Sandaime planning to step down and one of the Sannin will take his place. There have also been more insidious rumors going around too. That the massacre isn't what it seems.
Something has gone foul in Konoha.
Obito is pulled from his grim reflections when silver hair appears in his line of vision. Focusing on it, he lowers his gaze down further and sees it is Kakashi (of course) dressed in mourning blacks. The boy is laying down flowers in front of the monument that will commemorate all of the lost Uchiha.
When he stands back up and looks in their direction, Obito croaks, "Hey, you're here."
Kakashi looks away from him. "I'm not trash," he says. "I know they matter."
Obito feels as if his heart has been struck clean through with a kunai knife. "Of course you do," he tells the boy. Obito looks at his two hands and curses internally.
Who to let go?
Kakashi has already moved out of his reach just as he starts to pry his fingers from Nika's death-grip. The boy stands by Rin, who is scrutinizing him with her medic-gaze. "You okay, Kakashi?" she asks him.
He shrugs a single shoulder and Obito frowns. That is not a good sign. He wants to press, but isn't sure now is the time (or if it's his place, he's been pretty distant with Kakashi as of late).
"Nothing rest wouldn't fix," says Kakashi. He puts his hands in his pockets and takes on his typical slouch. "Maybe I will soon," he says. He gives a humorless laugh and tilts his head to the side with his visible eye curved in a smile. "I got the ball rolling and, now, they'll be able to handle the rest."
"Good," replies Rin in a voice that sounds both grim and relieved. With her free hand, she reaches out to Kakashi, attempting to draw him in. He shies away, ducking his head as he does.
Kicking absently at the dirt, he mutters, "Anyway… I've got a couple of more things to do before I'm really finished."
Rin curls the hand Kakashi rejected against her chest. "Of course," she says. "When you're done, we'll all be at my apartment." Her eyes flicker to Obito. "I know you've been just catching sleep wherever you are, but I do have room and an extra futon."
Kakashi glances up, but not to look at Rin. His attention is on Obito and all he feels is miffed. It's not his place (not yet at least. They've been discussing if he and Sasuke should just move in full time. The compound is kind of freaky now that everyone is gone).
"Sure," he agrees. "Later."
Rin smiles. "We'll wait up for you," she promises.
The boy nods, and, then, he's gone.
His kids still in his hands, Obito looks at Rin and asks, "I guess we should go home, huh?"
She sighs. "Yes."
-O-
It's just Obito awake now. Fifteen minutes ago, Rin finally nodded off at her kotatsu table, her right cheek resting on her arms. Obito is tired too. The day has been draining due to the commemoration to the Uchiha clan and tending to his daughter and Sasuke, but he's not going to sleep.
Someone needs to be here to welcome Kakashi when (if) he shows up. He'd meant it that night in the forest, he wants the boy to live with him — them. He wants to give Kakashi the love, the family he never had. Lately, Obito has been failing at it, but he's going to do better from now on.
Starting with being awake for the kid when he shows up.
Obito picks up his cup of tea, which comes from a pot long gone cold, and sips at it. He grimaces slightly. He's never cared for cool tea, but he's half-afraid if he gets up, Rin will wake.
That's the last thing he wants to do to the kunoichi. She's got smudges beneath her eyes and has been up just as frequently through the nights with the kids as he has been. Perhaps even more since he's pretty sure all of Kakashi and her previous visits have happened at night too.
This is almost worse than those couple of months when Nika was a baby with colic.
Obito startles abruptly when, out of the corner of his eyes, he catches the sight of silver in the moonlight filtering in through the half-closed curtains of the room's window. He turns his head fully in the direction of the sight and places the cup down on the table.
He relaxes when he sees it is Kakashi.
"Hey," he greets the boy. "Welcome home."
Kakashi, who is wearing a dog ANBU mask, takes it off. "You're awake," he remarks, apparently surprised.
Obito shrugs. "Rin said we'd wait up for you," he points out. He chuckles. "Though, Rin lost the battle with sleep about fifteen minutes ago, sorry."
The boy hesitates but finally comes to sit down at the table with them. "It's fine," he said. "It's nearly three in the morning."
"You're right," agrees Obito. "What's with the get-up?"
Kakashi places his mask on the table and looks away. "It was for the business I needed to finish up," he replies elusively.
He purses his lips. "Oh."
Silence lapses for a time.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he clears his throat. "So, uh, now that everything is as in order as we're going to have it for a while…"
"It's fine," says Kakashi, jaw tensing beneath his mask. "I've done the calculations, we have time before we have to finish what we started."
Obito relaxes. "Good," he says. Then, he winces. "It's not that I don't want to complete our mission as soon as possible, but, you know," he looks helplessly towards the bedrooms. "The kids."
Kakashi nods. "I do," he says. He lowers his gaze to the tabletop. "Obito," he says.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry," replies Kakashi.
He frowns. "Huh?"
"I… I didn't think this would happen," he tells him. "In my world, it happened years earlier and because of different reasons."
That odd, unsettled feeling from when they received the news of the massacre comes back to Obito. "It's okay," says Obito. Before he can stop himself, he adds, "I mean saving my clan wasn't your mission, was it? They're just collateral in the name of the whole world."
Immediately, he regrets the words. Kakashi flinches so badly he bumps his legs into the table, startling Rin awake. Obito can only gape, wanting to apologize, but utterly mute from the shame he feels.
"Kakashi!" Rin exclaims at the sight of the wide-eyed boy. She then furrows her brows, seeing how pale the quarter of his visible face looks in the dim room. She reaches out and, like at the commemoration for his clan, Kakashi ducks away from her touch.
He winces. "Sorry," he apologizes. "I'm just tired."
She doesn't look as if she believes him and looks to Obito, probably for back-up, but he looks down instead. He's too ashamed. Rin makes a noise that might be frustration and says to Kakashi, "I meant it earlier. I have an extra futon."
"Yeah?" he murmurs.
She nods. "I fixed it up in my room, just in case."
He exhales. "Sure, okay," he relents.
Rin and Kakashi get up. "Great!" she exclaims. "Let's go." She looks over at him. "Are you going to head to bed now too, Obito?"
He glances up at her. "After I clean up," he replies, gesturing to their dishes.
She gives him a happy, appreciative smile he does not deserve. "Thanks, Obito."
He swallows and very pointedly does not look at Kakashi as he wishes them, "Goodnight guys."
"Night, Obito," Rin echoes before she waves for Kakashi to follow and they disappear into her bedroom.
Once alone, he buries his face in his hands. "I'm an idiot," he curses as tears gather in the corners of his eyes. "He's going to think I hate him at this rate and never agree to live with us."
-O-
"Get up!" hisses Rin as she yanks his covers off of him.
Instantly, he sits up. He's still sleep-dazed, however, and scrunches his nose at Rin's looming, panicked face. "Wha…?" he murmurs.
"UP!" she insists, grabbing his arm and pulling.
He complies, stumbling as he does. "Rin!" complains Obito as she pulls him out into the main room.
There, Rin lets Obito go. More awake than a moment ago, he can see she's not only frantic, there are tears gathered in her eyes. "He's gone rogue," she warbles.
He looks around. "Who's gone rogue!" exclaims Obito. He was pretty sure he'd seen Sasuke's dark head still in his bed as Rin bullied him out of their borrowed room.
Rin's lips curl into a frustrated snarl. "Kakashi! Who else?"
"Erh," replies Obito as the information settles over him. Now is probably not the time to mention how worried he is about the possibility of Sasuke taking off to avenge their clan. There is enough to panic about as it is.
Why the Hell did Kakashi have to pull this now?
Rin reaches into her robe and brings out a piece of paper. "He left a note, apologizing, and telling us to not feel bad if he doesn't make it," she says, mouth trembling as she offers him the note to read.
He takes it and scans the contents. It's horrifying to see Kakashi's thoughts in black and white like this. "No," he whispers, meeting Rin's gaze once more.
She stares back with her own eyes wide and says, "Yes."
He waves the letter in the air and yells, "We have to do something!"
Rin crosses her arms and asks, "Which of us will go?"
He sputters. What kind of question is that? Kakashi needs him and Rin. The world needs all of them. Only as a team can they do the impossible. "Both of us!" he snaps, incredulous.
Rin frowns back at him. "What about Nika? Sasuke?"
For a moment, Obito says nothing. Rin is right. As always. Even so, he whispers, "He needs the both of us."
Her expression is sympathetic. Reaching up, she comes to cradle his face in her hands. "They need us too."
He swallows down his grief. Yeah, they do. Lowering his gaze, he stares at his blurry hands and wonders which of them Kakashi should have. Then, he wonders which of them Sasuke and Nika ought to have.
Somehow, he feels whoever they choose will be the wrong choice.
"I can take care of us," croaks a voice from their right. Obito's head whips over in the direction and he sees Sasuke standing in front of the door to their open bedroom.
The boy's chin is firm, stubborn. There is more awareness and fire in his gaze than Obito has seen in almost a month. "Sasuke…" he utters.
The boy looks away. "We're family," he says. Briefly, he meets Obito and Rin's gazes. "That's what you said."
He nods. Turning to the boy, he holds his hands out helplessly to the teenager. "It is, but you kids have just been through the worst day of your life and you're struggling—"
"You want him, that Kakashi kid, to be family too, don't you?" Sasuke demands, cutting him off.
Obito bites his tongue. He finds he can't lie. "Well, yes, but—"
"He's going to die on his own, right?" broke in Sasuke again, voice hard and demanding. Hands balling up at his sides, he reminds them, "That's what you told us would happen if you didn't both go with him."
"You're right we did say that," agrees Rin in her kind, patient tone she uses with people who are in a lot of pain or are ornery. "But we can't leave you guys, not like this."
"I won't be the reason you lose anyone else," the boy declares and Obito feels his mouth go dry. Is Sasuke blaming himself for the massacre? How had he missed that? "You need to go. I can take care of myself and Nika for a bit," the boy insists.
Obito opens his mouth to argue, but Rin grabs his fingers and squeezes, silencing him. She then steps slowly towards Sasuke. The teenager watches her warily, but his expression turns abruptly to surprise when Rin wraps him up in a strong, heartfelt embrace. "I'm going to talk to Kurenai and my neighbors about checking in on you," she says into raven-black hair.
Sasuke huffs against her shoulder. "Whatever," he grumbles.
Rin pulls away and stares the boy in the eyes. "Thank you, Sasuke," she tells him. "You don't know how much this means to us."
"Hn," says Sasuke. There is a flicker of something in his eyes and he asks, "Just… Come home."
Rin agrees, "We will do everything to make sure we can."
"Okay," says Sasuke as he steps back, opening his bedroom door to retreat.
Obito surges forward. "Wait!" he cries. Startling, the kid pauses mid-step. Obito sweeps the kid into his arms and hugs him for all he's worth. "Love you, Sasuke," he says into his ear.
Sasuke makes a noise that is both disgusted and amused. "You too," he murmurs into Obito's neck.
Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts with a review