Actually the full title for this chapter was Everlasting hydrangeas for eternal summer days, but FFN has a count for characters in chapter titles, so saadd, anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Having Obito as his partner in missions meant that there was no need for Rin to always tag along as their doctor. That was a good thing because even with the war over, there was still a lot to be done in the hospital, caring for the survivors. But with mokuton, Obito could heal himself from any minor injuries pretty fast and Kakashi rarely got hurt at all, so they assured Minato-sensei that they didn't need any help with their B-rank mission over in the Hot Springs Country.

It turned out that yes, they needed it, because the mission was actually an A-rank and their client seriously downplayed the danger of it. Kakashi would take his time yelling at their client for being an irresponsible piece of shit and putting them and the mission in danger just to save a few bucks. Everybody knew hiring shinobi shouldn't be something to save money on. He would also report that back to sensei once they reached Konoha. For now he needed to sew Obito up. Even if his self healing abilities were amazing, he still needed some first aid help, and that big gash on his shoulder was putting Kakashi on edge and making him worried sick.

"Relax Bakashi, no need for needles and thread, it's not that serious."

"Not that se- ?! You goddamn idiot! When are you going to stop jumping in front of people to protect them?! Are you stupid?! Have you no sense of self preservation?!" Kakashi yelled even if he didn't mean to, worried out of his mind.

Obito had once again jumped in front of the enemy to take the blow for Kakashi. It was so reminiscent of the last time at Kannabi Bridge, those feelings of unconsolable despair and fright flooded Kakashi's soul all over again. What if he lost Obito for real this time? What if there was no miraculous mokuton to save him from the brink of death again? What would Kakashi do then? A life without Obito had no meaning, no joy, no reason to go on.

"Don't yell Kakashi. Of course I'm always going to save you."

"But look at you now!" Kakashi's hands had been trembling for a long time as he cleaned and assessed the wound, but as he pierced Obito's skin with the needle, he inhaled and exhaled deeply to get his emotions under control.

"And look at you. You're safe, and this wound would be much more serious on you than on me, you know that."

He knew. Kakashi knew everything. In theory. But his rational mind and emotional mind were having trouble seeing eye to eye.

"Shut up idiot." He muttered only, as Obito hissed and painful tears gathered in the corner of his eyes. Still a crybaby, even at 15, Obito still cried for anything.

Obito was whining as Kakashi alternated between muttering sorry's and shut up's, unable to make the two sides of his brain to agree.

"You need to be careful, mokuton doesn't make you immortal." He said with a bit of anger but Obito laughed through his tears.

"I know that Bakashi! What? Were you worried about me?"

"Yes! I- I- I have no idea what I would do if I ever lost you again!" He turned his eyes down and focused on the needle, trying to hide his shame and obvious concern, but then suddenly there were small white flowers blooming from inside Obito's wound, so fast and so dense that Kakashi had trouble seeing the gash even with the sharingan.

"Damn it Obito! I can't sew you with the flowers on the way!" His voice didn't hide his frustration, but his words did. He was not frustrated at the flowers, he was frustrated at the possibility of losing Obito again. He hated feeling helpless and useless.

"Sorry Kakashi." His eyes shot up and Obito smiled up at him with his big dopey smile of his, even with tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. "No need to patch me up, I think the flowers can handle it."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi looked down again, checking from different angles trying to assess if he could cut through the mess of white to get to Obito's wound and finish dressing it. He was trying to keep his hands and head busy, he couldn't think of a world where Obito was dead, either now or on Kannabi Bridge. He just couldn't. He would break down if he thought too much about it.

"Yeah, relax Kakashi, c'mon." Obito took Kakashi's hand in his and turned it around showing up his wrist, where a cut was bleeding a bit. Kakashi had had a ton of those in his life, just kunai scrapes, nothing that would leave a scar. But there was so much tenderness in that touch that Kakashi's heart wanted to pound out of his chest. Obito traced his index finger over the small red line with so much care that it sent shivers down Kakashi's spine.

Obito covered his wrist with his hand and started pouring his chakra over it in a way that reminded him of medical jutsu. It was a bit overwhelming, it wasn't the way Rin did it, but Obito was trying to copy it, but it lacked control and finesse, and the years of practice their friend had, obviously. Obito had always had more chakra than average because he was an Uchiha, and after the mokuton his control only got worse. But Kakashi could feel it, his body healing. It was warm and welcoming and reminded him of waking up in the early mornings during winter just to pull up the covers tighter to sleep again, relaxed from knowing it was still too soon to wake up, even though they were in the middle of summer. And... there was something more, tingling under his skin.

Obito pulled out his hands and there was a small bed of orange flowers on Kakashi's wrist. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make the flowers grow on you. I just wanted to help."

Obito scratched the back of his head as Kakashi stared between his face and his own wrist. It was a bit of an alien sensation, like it was part of him but still it wasn't. Maybe like how with hair you could feel it belonged to your body but it didn't hurt when you cut it. He moved to push one of the flowers off his skin and it didn't hurt to pull it off, though he guessed maybe the healing process might be interrupted in that particular area. Upon closer inspection Kakashi could notice that those were hydrangeas, both the white ones in Obito's shoulder and the orange ones in the small scrape on his wrist, though they weren't in their usual form, blossoming together to form one big ball of flowers. He had noticed them in the windows of the Yamanaka shop a couple of weeks back and researched them because he recalled seeing them around a lot during summertime.

"I'm sorry, I… I know that the flowers are weird." Obito's voice was dejected, probably misinterpreting Kakashi's astonishment with repulsion, but he wouldn't have that.

"They're not, Obito." He countered immediately.

"You must think of me even more of a monster now."

Kakashi looked up and stared back into Obito's big black bottomless eye.

"I don't. I would never. You're not a monster. You're Obito. And you saved my life. Again. You should be more careful, ok?"

More hydrangeas spread from Obito's wounds to where some blood was still dripping, forming some sort of track, a flowery path across his shoulder and arm. Kakashi loved it. It looked beautiful and it healed Obito and Kakashi was grateful for it even as his heart hurt from feeling so much love.

Kakashi had no idea how he could carry on without Obito. If he ever died, Kakashi had his mind set on going with him because he couldn't do this again a second time around. He had no idea how he survived the first time, because really, how could someone survive losing his other half, his better half? The only other person that mattered in the world? No, he wouldn't go through this pain again, not in this life.

"Alright, I'll make sure to have a little chat with our client about the classification of the mission. It's never a good idea to lie about these things."

Minato-sensei gave him a warm smile that spoke of carefulness, and worry about his student, his shinobi, and that he as Hokage would do his best for Kakashi's interests. But Kakashi only shivered inside. With such a deceitfully sunny smile it was easy to forget that once Minato had killed a thousand Iwa shinobi with his own hands in one go. He wouldn't want to be in their client's shoes, not when sensei had that strange edge to his smile.

"Anything else Kakashi?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Don't call me that, I told you already, I'm always going to be your sensei." Minato waved him away and Kakashi allowed himself a small smile of appreciation. "What about Obito? Any details that he needs to come report to me?"

"He's at the hospital right now, they're checking if he's completely healed already."

"Alright then… how about that?" Minato nodded his head in the direction of Kakashi's wrist, right where small orange flowers covered his skin.

Kakashi raised his hand in reflex to examine the flowers again, trying to fight off the fond smile in his voice, not entirely sure if he was able to. "Obito tried to heal me on the field using mokuton."

"Did it work?" Minato seemed to ask out of curiosity, their sensei had always been a bit of a nerd after all.

"I guess? It's not as good as Rin's healing jutsu or his mokuton healing his own body."

"At least it looks pretty." Minato smiled and Kakashi felt a bit awkward. So that's how Obito felt whenever he was complimented. "But I never saw that color of flower before, Obito usually only grows white flowers."

"They're hydrangeas." Kakashi corrected in reflex before he could think.

"Hydrangeas… I see." Minato sent a knowing smile in Kakashi's way that he pretended not to notice. It spoke volumes about how much their sensei knew Kakashi and he absolutely hated it. "I hardly ever see them anymore so I don't recall their shape."

"Hardly ever see them? Sensei, Obito always has at least one flower in his hair." Kakashi scoffed and crossed his arms, careful not to hurt the buds in his wrist, wanting to keep this little piece of Obito with him a little longer.

"Only you see those Kakashi, when we're with Obito there aren't any flowers growing."

No, sensei was wrong. Or was he? Why would the flowers grow when Obito was with Kakashi? He had a hunch that the blossoming had something to do with positive emotions, the flowers that grew had something to do with the seasons of the year, which was again confirmed by hydrangeas growing from Obito during summer. But the colors… Kakashi didn't know about the colors. Maybe Obito's favorite color was white? No, it didn't make sense, he loved those horrid orange goggles and anything orange on that matter. Kakashi had a theory Obito just didn't have only orange clothes because he was a Uchiha and they must be legally obligated by birth to wear at least 80% dark blue at any given moment. Obito seemed to have a theory about the colors though, and sensei about how often they grew out of Obito's hair.

"Knock it off, sensei." Kakashi muttered and turned around to leave. This was getting out of control, since when did his feelings become so painfully obvious to everyone around him? Minato-sensei, Kushina-san and Rin, obviously, they all teased Kakashi about the flowers and his relationship with Obito as if they knew the secret he was hiding deep inside.

But if that was true… did Obito also know about Kakashi's feelings? Please Sage, don't, that would be so humiliating. And he wouldn't be able to take a rejection. Maybe a rejection, but not having Obito in his life as a close friend was something he didn't want to consider. Kakashi had no idea what kind of life it would be.

Gods, why did he have these feelings for a straight teammate, couldn't it be for Rin? Or for someone who could eventually return his affection? Sage, he hated this so much.

Kakashi wasn't a stalker. He wasn't even that interested in the lives of other people to begin with. Except Obito's, obviously.

Obito, who spent a concerningly long time talking to and helping old ladies in the hospital. Were there even that many old ladies in Konoha? And were they all in the hospital today? Kakashi was now concerned for the retirement funds of the village.

On a more immediate note, he was concerned about the flowers growing from Obito. Minato-sensei had put some questions in his head and now he was outside the hospital sitting on a branch and camouflaged by the leaves while watching Obito and an old lady interacting. She seemed to be an Uchiha too so Obito was exchanging pleasantries with her, asking about her kids and grandkids, which she was delighted to answer if her big smile was anything to go by. But still, no flowers in his hair.

"I'm glad you're not badly hurt Obito-kun!" The lady raised her wrinkled hands to pinch Obito's cheeks, but he just pretended to dodge her to end up giving up rather theatrically.

"I'm super strong baa-chan, of course I wouldn't get hurt!" Obito's voice was equal parts annoying bravado and endearing naivety and both Kakashi and the old lady melted from hearing it.

After some more pointless talking about how the weather wasn't as chilly anymore and how prices at the supermarket were expensive, Obito moved on to leave the hospital, finally. and Kakashi was perked up right above a tree to tag along from that point on. So far no flowers had grown from Obito in any shape or color.

"Oi, Obito! Want some lollipop?" Rin was waving at him from the front desk, one of those colorful lollipops they give away as a reward to children on her hand. Obito latched on the candy almost before Rin could fully unwrap it.

"I take it if you're well enough for candy, it wasn't such a serious injury?" She had mirth on her voice and Obito opened such a sunny smile it blinded Kakashi with jealousy.

"I'm a-okay, don't worry Rin!" She reached up and messed with Obito's hair and Kakashi's nails dug a little too hard on the bark of the branch he was sitting on.

Obito just stood there smiling and laughing together with her. Maybe he had matured a bit since he came back from the dead, he wasn't a blabbering mess around her anymore, he didn't blush or acted awkward like he did before, when they were still 11 or 12. Obito was becoming a teenager, and it was such an obvious observation that Kakashi felt foolish at being caught blindsided. Maybe it was because he still liked his silly teammate's childish side, that's why he often forgot that they were 15 now, and he was often shocked with how tall Obito was, and how strong he was becoming, and the way his voice sounded deeper, and his shoulders looked stronger and…

Kakashi let his mind wander again. He should focus on the task at hand, which was to check if Obito still had flowers growing on his hair or not. So far, negative.

"Hey Rin, do you think you can teach me some healing jutsus one of these days?"

"Healing jutsu? Why would you need that? Your mokuton is already plenty!"

"No! It's not for me!"

"Ooohh…" Rin dropped her voice to a teasing tone and elbowed Obito's ribs. "It's for Kakashi, isn't it?"

Kakashi felt hot and he wasn't even part of the conversation, he was just eavesdropping- just gathering intel. Obito also blushed and two little white hydrangea flowers bloomed right above his right ear, as if he had put them there on purpose. The flowers only grew out when Rin mentioned his name, and Kakashi's heart was thumping at the possible implications of that, his rational mind trying to nip his hope in the bud.

"Yeah, it's for Kakashi, he's my teammate." Obito tried to contradict Rin but it obviously lacked strength, almost as if he wasn't trying to correct her at all. Kakashi had to tell himself that yes, they were just teammates, and forget all the other notions his mind was so keen on cooking up.

"Just a teammate?" Rin asked again, elongating the vowels in all the ways that made Kakashi's ears burn. Why was she talking about him like that? And to Obito of all people?!

"Shut up Rin."

"Alright, alright… but why did you ask that? Was Kakashi injured in your mission too? I didn't see his file today."

"Yeah! He got this cut right here." Obito mimicked the cut Kakashi sported and his fingers reflexively darted to touch the little bed of orange flowers in the most delicate way possible. It was a kunai scrape, it wasn't serious at all, and here Obito was, being a worrywart, motioning in a frantic way. "And there was blood! Like a lot of blood! And-"

"Obito, what you're describing sounds like just a kunai scrape to me." Bingo, Rin was a doctor for a reason after all. "You know that just from his usual training Kakashi gets like, three of those everyday, right?" Which was about correct, but she got Obito fuming.

"Rin! How can you say that?! Aren't you a doctor? You can't dismiss it like that!"

"It sounds to me like you're being overprotective again and exaggerating this."

"No, I'm not! There was even blood!"

"Those don't even scar, Sage Obito, relax, your precious little Kakashi won't have any marks on him."

"He's not little! He's taller than you now!" Obito didn't deny the "my" and "precious" parts and Kakashi's heart was galloping. Gods, he would keep remembering this moment forever. "And I know it doesn't scar because Kakashi has this perfect skin and-" Kakashi could feel his blood boiling out of his body from how hard he blushed and how hot it felt under his mask. Obito seemed to be the same as he blushed harder under Rin's scrutinizing look and a little white flower bloomed from his cheek. "Anyway!" He cleared his throat and Rin was gracious enough to let him continue. "What if something serious happens? I want to be able to heal him!"

Kakashi's heart might pound out of his mouth. He was puzzled at how he could still keep hiding when his heart seemed to pound so loud against his ribcage. Surely by now Rin and Obito could hear him.

"Obito, you know I think all ninja should learn medical ninjutsu, at least the basics, so of course I'll teach you." She petted Obito's shoulder and his stiffness started relaxing a little. "I think it might be a very efficient way of applying your mokuton."

Rin, being the goddamned nerd she was, of course, must have read all the scrolls that Kakashi himself had read from the library and learned about the Shodaime's innate healing abilities.

"Oh! I know! I know that! It was in one of Kakashi's scrolls!" Obito chimed in excitedly, one of the few times he guessed it correctly about something he read on a book and Kakashi was weirdly proud.

"So when I try to teach you something you're always distracted but when Kakashi tells you to study then you do it, you jerk?" Rin sighed deeply. "Whatever, yes, mokuton can be used that way."

"Yeah, I actually tried to heal him during the mission. It kinda worked, though I just like, opened the chakra faucet and put it over his cut."

"And?" Rin nudged Obito to go on about his not very refined technique.

"Well, there were these… flowers?" Obito admitted sheepishly, looking embarrassed by his lack of finesse.

"You made flowers grow on Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

Her big doe eyes grew in surprise as she nodded. "Wow, mokuton really is powerful… Was it your regular flowers?" She turned her eyes to the small flowers growing above Obito's ear and Kakashi followed her gaze. He felt the need to brush the flowers behind Obito's ear like they were a strand of hair and his fingers twitched.

"Yeah, the ones I'm getting this time of the year anyway. Except they were orange."

Rin bursted out laughing harder than Kakashi had ever seen. Full-on-hold-her-stomach-bend-down-cry-from-laughing-too-much kind of laughing and both he and Obito were startled by it.

"Oi! What you laughing at, asshole?" Obito demanded, looking a mix of offended and concerned.

"Nothing… oh Sage, oh Sage…" Rin was wiping tears from the corner of her eyes as she tried to regain control after her bursting. "Nothing, gods, how can you two be so dense?"

"What?! You're calling me stupid?!" Kakashi rolled his eyes because it was such a Obito reaction.

"No, I'm just happy for my friends." Rin tried to appease him but she was still hiccuping in laughter a little.

"You're being a real bastard, Rin."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Orange flowers uh? Gods." Rin let out one last laughter that sounded more like a tired sigh with her hands on her hips. "Ok, I have to get to work now, but how about we meet tomorrow for me to teach you?"

Kakashi swallowed down the surge of jealousy when he thought about Obito and Rin alone training together for hours on end.

"Deal! No taking backsies!"

"Of course not silly, I'll see you tomorrow."

Obito left the hospital seemingly headed to the Hokage Tower. Kakashi guessed his teammate wanted to deliver a report to Minato to account for his point of view of the mission, but Obito barged in asking something that made Kakashi's stomach fill with butterflies.

"Oi! Minato-sensei! Have you seen Kakashi? He was here right?" Obito asked loudly, paying no mind to what the Hokage and two of his ANBU were talking about.

"Kakashi…?" Minato wondered out loud, seeming to be undisturbed by Obito's rude obtrusion. He reclined in his Hokage chair and twirled a little with a long hum, blue eyes landing exactly where Kakashi was hiding behind thick leaves in a particularly tall tree's branch. "Hum, I didn't see him, sorry Obito." Kakashi felt a shiver in his spine. Surely Minato-sensei hadn't seen him, right?

Obito just said a loud thank you and closed the door again as if the Hokage's office was his to come and go as he pleased, and with that a playful smirk graced their sensei's lips and Kakashi felt yet another bigger shiver running down his spine. He wouldn't be surprised at all if he turned around to find a kage bunshin of the Hokage crouching behind Kakashi in that same tree branch, but it wasn't the case. Damn Minato for his keen sense of observation and damn himself for being so obvious about his feelings for Obito.

Next stop was Minato and Kushina's house, which was only a block from the Hokage tower, so they got there in one big jump, Kakashi trying to stay behind enough for Obito not to notice him but bolting out of his hiding place fast enough to get away from sensei's watchful eyes. Obito knocked loudly on the door calling for his Kushina-nee and when she opened the door she invited him inside to say hi to Naruto. Kakashi settled himself above a window and listened in as they talked about nothing at all, until the moment when Obito asked once again about Kakashi, which made his heart stutter and stumble upon itself in his chest and he almost fell to the ground.

"Oh I don't know Obito-kun, Kakashi could be anywhere in the village, even maybe hiding in between the roof and the air conditioning exhaust fan over the outside vent of the south window over there, but who am I to guess? I'm just a lowly housewife." Kushina laughed as she pinpointed with precision Kakashi's hiding place and he almost fell to the ground a second time. Lucky for him that Obito was too dense to understand how she was ratting Kakashi out, so once again he just thanked her with a confused voice and exited to the street. Damn those sensor Uzumaki jinchurikis with a sixth sense for gossip.

Obito wandered around the village a bit more, stopping by Ichiraku's and the weapon's shop, only to glance inside and go back on his way to what ended up being Kakashi's apartment. Obito was now knocking on the window and glancing inside, but obviously Kakashi wasn't there to answer so he just moved on, seemingly heading to the Uchiha district with a defeated look in his face.

His own heart was beating so loudly by now, Kakashi almost couldn't hear his own thoughts. Obito spent the rest of the afternoon looking for Kakashi after he left the hospital, was he… was he really that important to Obito? What could he possibly want with Kakashi to begin with? Was it something urgent? It could only be. And just like Minato-sensei had explained, there were no more flowers in his hair when he talked to Minato or Kushina, not even when he briefly played with Naruto. What did that mean?

On the way to his own place, Obito managed to find yet another old lady that needed his help, and help her Obito did. To be fair, he didn't spend his time talking only to old ladies. There was also a cat stuck in a tall tree that Obito collected for a crying little girl, and he even filled in for a soccer game with his younger cousins, after Shisui convinced him to join them.

Sage, Obito was such an idiot. He was too kind hearted. It would end up killing him one day.

On second thought, it already had. When Obito sacrificed himself to save Kakashi from the rocks collapsing on that cave. This reminded him once again of the accident they had earlier that day when Obito stepped in front of him to take the blow from one of the missing nin. The trail of white flowers were still visible on him, showing off from his torn clothes and the new bandages, coming down from his shoulder to the middle of his chest, a gash so deep that bled so much that made Kakashi want to wash his hands repeatedly on the water. Gods he was such a failure of a shinobi, of a friend, putting Obito in such a dangerous position only because he was incompetent. He shouldn't even be close to Obito, it was the best course of action, he wasn't strong enough to defend himself and his friend, but he also definitely wasn't good enough of a person to offer him confort like Rin could, so what the hell was he even doing?

A loud laughter that he knew too well cut through the white noise of the busy district streets and he refocused his vision on the dusty soccer field. Kakashi was perked up on one of the roofs of the Uchiha district, hiding behind a line of clothes hanging to dry in the summer's hot heat. He looked back below him where Obito was running around carrying a little Itachi in his shoulders yelling "goal" and celebrating the point his little cousin had scored. He laughed and yelled loudly, a sound that warmed Kakashi all over and made his muscles relax, and his mind slowed down, and suddenly he caught himself smiling too at Obito's silly antics. How he was holding back his abilities since he was playing with younger kids, how he theatrically would fall down when one of them stole the ball away from him, asking for the non existent referee to do something about this foul play. And him missing the goal when he was just in front of it and getting mad about it.

That smile, that boy, that soul… it was everything to Kakashi. Gods, he loved Obito so much it hurt. And it hurt double when he knew he was so unworthy of the other's company and friendship.

Kakashi's thoughts were spiraling out of control too fast and too much, so he decided to put an end to it. He bit his thumb and pulled a scroll out of his pouch.

"Hey boss, what's up?" The little pug appeared from the smoke and Kakashi smiled relieved. At least he could always count on his pack.

"Hey Pakkun, I'm sorry, I summoned you to talk, not for a mission or anything."

"No worries, got any treats?" Kakashi fought the urge to roll his eyes at Pakkun because of course he was going to ask for treats, he was a dog, it didn't matter that Kakashi only wanted to talk.

"Yes, here." He pulled a treat out of his pouch and the dog jumped on it, almost biting one of Kakashi's fingers off in the process.

Seemingly satisfied with their transaction, Pakkun made himself comfortable on Kakashi's lap. "Alright, what do you need then?"

"Nothing, I'm just passing time." He tried to shrug and appear nonchalant, maybe add a little scratch behind Pakkun's ear so he didn't notice that Kakashi was really only stalking Obito like a pervert.

Pakkun wasn't having that of course, he'd been around Kakashi since he was five years old after all. "That's new for you boss." His skepticism was obvious in his tone and Kakashi cursed himself for his apparent feelings.

"I'm on a stake out mission." He tried to cover but the dog sent him a blank stare.

Pakkun looked around, evaluating what he probably already knew, that he was in Konoha, that Kakashi wasn't on any mission at all and that they were all perfectly safe. "Sure boss. What are we waiting for?"

Kakashi sighed tired of trying to pretend he wasn't doing something he shouldn't. "How long does a soccer match last?"

"Don't know boss, sorry." Pakkun didn't sound surprised, he could probably hear the sound of the kids playing below on the street level and assumed that's what Kakashi was referring to.

"It's ok, don't worry…" Kakashi muttered as he let his eyes drift lower in search of the reason for his super-secret-stake-out-mission. Obito was laughing as five Uchiha kids hugged his feet to glue him in place and prevent him from taking the ball. It was loud and annoying and Kakashi loved it. There were no more flowers on his hair, he had pulled the little white ones out and threw them unceremoniously on the beaten road that led to the Uchiha District.

Shisui then stole the ball and was going ahead to score a goal against Obito, but even being tackled by five kids and fake drowning to make them all laugh, Obito was shining. Kakashi loved seeing him doing things he was good at and he loved doing, like training, being with his family, taking care of his seven million cousins, helping every goddamn old lady in the Fire Country. When Obito did those things he would shine as if all of creation had led to exactly that moment, as if all the pain and sorrow and grief and hurt was worth it just to be right there and watch Obito smile.

Yes. Here above the street, hidden away on watch, looking at Obito in adoration. That was Kakashi's place in this world, for better or for worse.

Kakashi shook his head trying to get himself out of his own head. "Hey Pakkun, did you ever meet the first Hokage?"

"I'm old, kid, but not that old." Pakkun was unphased by the sudden change of topic and Kakashi wondered if maybe he did that a lot for the dog to be used to it by now.

Kakashi shrugged and tried another route. "What about flowers?"

"Flowers? Don't know anything about flowers boss, just that it is cool to bury things in the gardens."

"Figures." He wasn't hoping that Pakkun would have the answers for those questions, but it would be nice to have some perspective. Though he doubted his dogs could advise him in being head over heels for your straight teammate.

"What is this about boss? Are all these questions related?"

"I'm just trying to make conversation, I was bored." Kakashi lied, and even though Pakkun had assured him before that dogs couldn't straight up smell lies, the dog raised a skeptical eyebrow at the blatant attempt.

"Bored from watching a soccer match?"

"Bored from waiting for my target to move." Kakashi corrected harshly hoping to put an end to this topic of conversation but Pakkun only took the opportunity to annoy him even more.

"Is your important target that Uchiha boy that you smell like?"

That was a low blow even for Pakkun, it didn't matter that Kakashi had made a contract with the ninken and he owed them eternal loyalty, there was no need for the dog to be that sarcastic. "What-what are you talking about Pakkun?!" Damn it he hated when he stammered like that, it was such an obvious tell tale sign.

"I'm just saying that you have his smell all over you, and he smells like you too. I know you two are teammates, but even that has limits."

Kakashi could hear the satisfaction in the dog's tone and he decided to stop denying and just try to cut his losses. "Shut up Pakkun."

"Did you pee on him, boss? Are you trying to mark him as yours? Getting territorial, aren't we?"

Kakashi opened and closed his mouth in outrage, resembling a fish, at a loss for words. Damn- goddamn Pakkun and his-his habit of putting things in dog terms! That's so disgusting!

"I said shut it!" Kakashi couldn't think of anything more creative to say. Sage, his ninken should show at least a little bit more respect for him!

"Maybe you should talk about this boss, but maybe with someone from your own species."

"Pakkun!"

After 30 minutes Obito bid farewell to his cousins, Kakashi and Pakkun concluded that soccer matches lasted 30 minutes and he dispelled himself so Kakashi could go back to following-and-definitely-not-stalking Obito, who finally went back home without any further distractions. But not before pinching little Sasuke's cheeks until he cried. Mikoto-san had the toddler in her arms as she came to collect Itachi and Shisui for dinner, and she yelled at Obito for making Sasuke cry again right after she'd just managed to make him stop. Kushina-san was always saying how the Uchiha baby had a foul mood even for a newborn and that the only thing that made him happy was playing with Itachi or Naruto.

Kakashi made himself comfortable on one of the neighboring roofs to observe-and-definitely-not-stalk Obito in his apartment. He could hear the sounds of the busy streets as he watched Obito read a scroll. There was noise from the bustling of people rising up through the early evening air which was too hot even for summer, but Obito continued to focus on the scroll, even taking some notes on the sides. Kakashi felt insanely attracted to him like that, all focused and studious, maybe because it was nice to see a more adult-like side from Obito from time to time.

His feet moved without any order from his brain but next thing he knew his trance like state that was sparked from admiring Obito from afar was broken by the sound of knocks on Obito's door. Kakashi was standing in front of Obito's door knocking on it! Why did his traitorous body make him do this?! Sage, what now?!

"Kakashi?!" Confusion was plain as day in Obito's face, but he also opened the most beautiful and unfair smile of all, several buds of white flowers growing in his hair like a flower crown of hydrangea and Kakashi's heart that had been experiencing arrhythmia the whole afternoon stuttered some more.

"Hey Obito." He tried to sound cool instead of choking on air.

"What are you doing here?"

Shit, Kakashi had forgotten to think of something to tell him. "I just wanted to check in on you after your little hospital trip." Yes, that was good enough right?

"I'm good as new! Why?" Obito's smile grew even bigger if that was possible, and more and more flowers spreaded around his hair and from between the bandages wrapping his shoulder where he was hurt before. "Were you worried about me? The almighty Hatake Kakashi?"

"As if!" He crossed his arms trying to sound sure of himself but Obito only laughed harder.

"You were totally worried about me!" Obito snickered and opened the door a bit wider to invite Kakashi inside. As he crossed the doorstep Kakashi wondered if Obito had anything important to talk to him, after all he'd been looking for Kakashi for a big chunk of the day. But it seemed it wasn't the case. "C'mon in you shithead, I have too many watermelons."

Kakashi rolled his eyes as he headed for the kitchen. "How can someone have too many watermelons?"

"The grannies keep giving me food, and what I don't eat goes to waste, so shut up and help me finish the watermelons. It's too hot for anything else anyway!"

They argued about other cold dishes that you could still eat even in the heat of summer. Then they argued about the best way to store watermelon to keep it cold and sweet. Then they argued some more about whether watermelon could be a dinner or not. All the while they were lying down on the balcony and eating said watermelons. Kakashi wondered how could they be teammates and friends, how could he love Obito when they were always arguing.

But as he looked up at the purplish summer skies with dusk approaching, and the soft lights of paper lanterns lighting up in the Uchiha District, he wished for this summer day to never end.