Chapter Text
—8 months later—
“Get up Uchiha.” The anbu agent ordered behind their mask.
He made an attempt to respond but only managed to look up blearily. He felt weaker than ever, although the Hashirama cells allowed him to stay afloat, the chakra seals inhibited them from their full power and made his whole system feel like trash. And as Obito let most of the days slip by without any attention to his health, he only deteriorated more.
They eventually helped him up and led him up the stairs where he was informed Kakashi would be waiting.
Sasuke had been let out a day prior due to security reasons and he, Naruto, and Sakura were probably together doing who knows what.
The only thing that really got him through the year-long spell were Naruto and Kakashi coming by to visit. They would half order half encourage him to at least stand up, move, and somewhat take care of himself. Many days he wished he could just melt into the walls if he sat there long enough.
Even Sakura would occasionally stop by for the routine medical check which he had come to appreciate. Occasionally, she would have to force shinobi standard nutrition drinks down his throat but most of the time she was surprisingly kind, leading Obito to grow as fond of her visits as Kakashi’s and Naruto’s.
“Rokudaime-sama.” The anbu on his left nodded.
Obito then felt a flare of foreign chakra go through the seal on his eyes. All of a sudden, the onslaught of stimuli forced his eyes to screw up before he could squint out a bit at Kakashi’s blurry form.
He wasn’t given a chance for his vision to recover before he felt another flare of chakra at his stomach, releasing the chakra inhibiting seals. His own chakra felt like a new life was breathed into him and he felt it course through his body like a sparking flame, nothing like the sluggishness he had felt the past year. He was surprised how painless the unsealing process was compared to the actual sealing.
The anbu around him had sensed this too and defensively shifted. In response, Obito kept still, squinting out around himself until Kakashi’s searching face finally came into focus. His white robes shone brightly even in the dim fluorescent lights and Obito couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the sight. Kakashi the Sixth Hokage, it still felt a bit unreal.
Almost immediately, Kakashi beamed back at him. After a few seconds Kakashi took some steps forward and took one of Obito’s hands. “Nice to see you again, friend.”
—
Within a few minutes, they arrived at Kakashi’s apartment. Obito was somewhat surprised that he had not chosen to move into that Hokage mansion instead. The apartment was modest with it opening into the kitchen and branching off to the living room and the bedroom hall. The walls were bare and the only form of decoration was a neat bookshelf stacked with Icha Icha and a few plants potted in the ledge hanging out from the window.
“I can give you some clothes to change into if you want. Feel free to use the shower too.” Kakashi spoke as they moved further into the house.
“Right, thanks.” Obito was thankful for the offer, his only belongings being the prison-issued clothing felt dank against his skin and he was due for a shower at this point.
Kakashi then disappeared into his room while Obito decided to get the water running. He stripped off his shirt, pausing as he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. He looked up to see Kakashi now in his jonin sweats holding some clothes and a towel for him.
“Thank you.” Obito nodded.
Kakashi’s expression gave nothing away but his gaze lingered on Obito’s mid-body for a second too long. “I’ll make some dinner while you’re at it.” Kakashi smiled, looking more like a grimace.
Obito looked across at the mirror as Kakashi quietly stepped away to see his reflection for the first time in months. He understood why Kakashi had reacted that way, some of his bones were slightly jutting out from beneath his unwashed skin, his eyes were rimmed with black, and his white hair gave him an air of fragility. It was a dramatic contrast to the person he was just a year ago, but he felt no sense of loss at the pathetic sight.
Closing the bathroom door and climbing into the hot shower, Obito closed his eyes against the steam. After a few minutes of the warm water sliding down his back, he opened his eyes slightly and gazed down at the shampoo and body wash products. Obito half wondered if chugging all of them would guarantee him a ticket out, but the other half banished the thought at the memory of Rin’s words.
After a few minutes of scrubbing himself clean, Obito stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around himself. The mirror had fogged up but he felt cleaner than he had for months. The energy he felt was also newfound, the lack of chakra seals made him feel much lighter and steady on his feet. He picked up the clean clothes from the ground when he noticed the loose yukata had the uchiha fan emblazoned on the back.
He would have to ask Kakashi where he got this from when he joined him later. He didn’t have much of an attachment to his clan since he was young, being outcasted and labeled abnormal had that effect. That didn’t mean he was entirely apathetic to his past actions against his clan though. He aimlessly wondered what Sasuke thought of his role in the massacre as he stepped out of the bathroom.
That seal on his heart being broken was proving to cause one too many remorseful thoughts to appear in his head.
He found Kakashi standing at the stove, mixing a pot of some soup.
Kakashi looked back at him with a warm gaze as Obito quickly directed his gaze back at the stove.
”I’m making some curry for you if that’s ok.” Kakashi stated.
”Yeah, thanks.” Obito responded as he took a seat at the dining table. “What’s the soup for then?” He nodded towards the pot.
”Oh that’s for me, I knew you didn’t like soups so I thought i’d make some curry for you.”
Obito let out a small oh. It was surprisingly thoughtful of Kakashi to have remembered his preferences even after the past decades.
He looked around a bit at the neat kitchen before asking about the Uchiha fan. “Where did you get this from?” He pinched the fabric on his body. The design was impeccable, with the same dyes and materials that the Uchiha civilians would use to embroider the emblem.
“Oh. Your grandmother actually gifted that to me when I got into the clan.” Kakashi replied with a shrug.
Oh, that’s right. The whole marriage thing he reminded himself with a hum. It was weird to say at least, understandable, but that didn’t make the whole thing less awkward.
Kakashi eventually broke the silence as he plated the dishes and sat across from Obito on the small dining table.
Obito took a grateful bite before he choked on the curry as he glanced up. Kakashi had his lower face entirely bare. The face that he tried so hard to see all those years ago was right in front of him, sipping away at some soup as if nothing happened.
All he got out were a few sputters before Kakashi looked at him with a mildly concerned look.
Now that his face was bare, Obito could see the slight frown and the way his lips slightly pursed. Obito was slightly annoyed at the lack of imperfections on the other man’s face, even the beauty mark and scar only added visual interest. And of course, the fucker would choose to cover up a face people would die for. For whatever reason Obito could not understand.
”What is it?” Kakashi asked with an eyebrow raised.
”Your mask.” Was all Obito could spit out.
Kakashi’s face broke out in a bemused smile at which point Obito’s mind fizzed out with one word, pretty. Wait, pretty? He really must be shaken up for his thoughts to be screwed up like that.
“I guess it is the first time you’ve seen my face.” Kakashi chuckled with a glint in his eyes.
Obito narrowed his eyes. “What happened to that trick of yours huh?”
”Oh, the quick eating? That’s just something I do out in public. I don’t do that in my own home, you know.” Kakashi smiled.
Obito huffed into his bowl. “So all you were hiding was a beauty mark, huh. By the way you had that mask plastered onto your face all the time, I thought that you had blimp lips or something.”
Kakashi let out some laughter at that and some of his teeth poked out. Correction, fangs, not teeth. His canines were abnormally elongated, resembling those of a canid.
Obito nearly choked on his food again before he swallowed it quickly. He didn’t want to make more of a fool out of himself than he already did. He guessed the old stories of the Hatake clan checked out. A clan with close ties to canid companions whom they lived close enough with on their farmlands to the point they strangely developed alike features.
By the time they had gone to bed after doing the dishes, it was already late into the night. Kakashi had prepared a guest room for him, complete with a couple of decorative plants and a closet with some spare clothes. What stuck out the most though, was the comforter that was now pulled up to Obito’s chin. It was his old blanket from his childhood years, green sheets and a pattern of black shuriken. As he pulled it closer up his face, he noticed it oddly smelled of Kakashi.
The next day, Kakashi had already left early to return to his duties as Hokage and he usually came back late into the night exhausted. This routine repeated for several days with the two only exchanging a quick greeting or sometimes a snack before bed.
This left Obito to his own devices for the majority of the day where he would look out the window trying to identify the different birds that would sing outside or indulging in his old training routine. Surprisingly quickly, he regained most of his muscle mass within that time frame. Even his white hair that was a bit overgrown had its original black roots showing.
It was on a weekend morning when Obito woke up to the sound of a cardinal noisily calling from his window, he realized it was already late into the morning. Surprised by how much sleep he’d gotten he pushed himself up and made his way to the bathroom.
Kakashi had already left, returning to his duties as Hokage as usual.
After the past days of rest and adequate meals, he felt more alive than ever. But in the silent apartment with only his deprecating thoughts as companions, he didn’t feel much more comfortable than he had in the prison. Though he usually stuck to his routine of watching birds and training, he still found himself walking through the apartment to put a rest to his listlessness.
At some point he found himself in Kakashi’s room which looked the most lived in than any of the other rooms. Even though Kakashi had managed to cook Obito breakfast before he left, it seemed that he didn’t save the time to even clean his own bed. Unlike the rest of Kakashi’s orderly apartment, the bedroom had clothes strewn across the floor and ration bar wrappers on the desk.
Obito walked towards the desk and picked up a few of the wrappers before noticing the picture frame on the windowsill. It was team Minato’s picture, with himself looking none too pleased to be next to Kakashi who was probably teasing him in the moment of the photo. His eyes fell to Rin’s face next who looked bright as she posed, ignoring the other two’s silent argument.
He couldn’t help the pained smile that appeared on his face, even though he lived with her suicide all these years it felt all the more fresh in the wake of his new reality.
Minato was behind them with an awkward smile plastered on his face as he tried holding the three of them together. Sure, his sensei had his flaws but Obito had respected him in his childhood and he felt that now even as memories of the Kyuubi attack sprang forward in his mind.
He’d have to live with the deaths of Minato and Kushina in his conscience for the rest of his life, among countless others he didn’t know the names of.
That thought gnawed at his skin as he picked the clothes from the ground and folded them. It was the least he could do for Kakashi. He didn’t know which drawers Kakashi organized his clothes into so he pulled a few open before he put them away. He felt a bit bad for snooping around as he came across one that looked like it used to have a seal on it.
The drawer contained some of his old belongings, ranging from mostly useless items like his practice kunai to his collage of photos of Rin and his parents. Kakashi must’ve gotten these after his Grandma passed away from heart disease. Although his grandma was mostly away trading goods in the other nations, he had treasured her presence during those childhood years and probably entrusted his last remaining teammate with his stuff. Meanwhile, his parents were killed in action before he had reached his first birthday.
Right next to his old belongings was Kakashi’s anbu uniform, dusty with disuse.
He wrinkled his nose at the memory of spying on Kakashi ever so often while the other man was in the black ops. The other man had been recklessly keen on getting himself killed on those missions. At the time Obito only turned his cheek the other way, the seal on his heart making him cold. He had resolved that it was only more reason to complete the tsukoyomi plan.
Even now, Obito could tell the silver-haired man was ridden with guilt. It came through with how Kakashi would glance at him every so often with a pathetically apologetic stare. Obito couldn’t help but be mildly annoyed at the few glances he caught. He knew what the other man wanted to apologize for and thought it stupid that Kakashi still blamed himself for it among a long list of other faults.
The world had failed Kakashi so many times, yet the man still managed to point the blame to himself like carrying the weight of the guilt was his lifeline. Obito lamented that despite his lack of wrongdoings the other man still internally loathed as much as Obito who had a whole lifetime of rightful apologizing to do.
His thoughts were interrupted by the door being unlocked and opened. He quickly closed the drawer and moved towards the door. It was strange of Kakashi to come so early. Maybe it was someone else? But instead of an unfamiliar face, Kakashi’s usual smile greeted him. It wasn’t a fake one that Obito came to recognize but a genuine one poking out from underneath the white hat.