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The door opens and Rin staggers out of the bar, towing Obito behind her by his tie. He still has his stupid orange tie around his neck, he utterly refused to take it off, but at least it’s loose now, his collar open to the night air. She’s been watching him inch closer and closer to his limit over the last month, deadlines and denied interviews and outright threats all piling up to try to force him not to publish before the election.
But it’s all done now, Obito’s exposé on the editor’s desk and ready to print just in time. And just like always, Obito’s been running around like a madman on too much coffee and too little sleep, one step from burnout and unable to see it. And just like always, Rin’s here to pick him up and dust him off and remind him what fun is. Well, remind him what fun is and then drag him to breakfast tomorrow morning, because she’s nothing if not a supportive roommate. And then she’ll drive him to the office before forcing him to work through the hangover, because she’s also a bit of a sadistic boss.
At least she’s aware of it.
She deliberately chose the closest bar - one they’ve never been to before - because she knew they’d both be far too drunk to drive. She ordered the most disgusting mixed drinks she could think of and Obito groans and protests were music to her ears. His growing smile as the evening progressed and his uproarious laughter at the many viral videos he’d managed to miss out on were the cherry on top of a perfect evening.
This has been the best idea she’s had in ages.
Obito trips over a crack in the sidewalk and she barely manages to catch him, nearly losing her grip as he giggles and slides toward the ground.
“Obi, Obi get up, I’m not carrying you home,” Rin laughs, her cheeks flushed in the chilly air.
“Noo,” Obito whines playfully. “You’re strong, you can do it!” He straightens despite his words, assuming the confident persona he only displays when incredibly drunk. “I believe in you!” He flashes her what she thinks is supposed to be a charming smile before bursting into giggles again.
Rin rolls her eyes. She needs to give him something to focus on. The walk back to their apartment isn’t that long, but she knows how distracted and determined Obito can get when he’s drunk. They don’t talk about the incident with the ‘liberated’ pet snake, but neither of them have ever forgotten waking up with Orochimaru the boa constrictor slithering around the apartment.
She stops in the middle of the sidewalk, remembering the snake poking its snout into her face and hissing at her. Do snakes have snouts? Snoots?
Gods she’s drunk. They both need something to focus on.
There’s a cat strutting along the top of the fence next to them, and Obito is eyeing it like he wants to follow. Rin needs to do something, fast.
The only thing she can think of are those damn cat videos they were watching, but that’ll have to do. She’s not the best at karaoke, but she’s drunk enough not to care.
Rin starts singing the opening notes, and Obito’s head whips around, a drunkenly-delighted grin spreading across his face as he recognizes the tune and claps along. He’s completely off-beat, as usual, and they probably sound worse than the cat would, but they both start singing anyway.
“Mr. Sandman! Bring me a dream!”
Rin wraps an arm around Obito and they stumble off down the street, singing as loudly as they can. Obito’s got no rhythm to speak of, but his voice and his memory for lyrics are phenomenal, and Rin’s got enough stubbornness to carry her part.
She can’t quite remember the second verse though, so once they sing the opening notes again she lets Obito take over.
“Mr. Sandman!” He calls, wildly enthusiastic.
She can’t help but answer in the deep voice from the song, “Yes?”
Obito’s mouth quivers like he’s going to break, but he valiantly pushes through and Rin joins in for the parts she knows, both of them singing, “Bring us a dream!”
As Obito continues, Rin spots a man walking down the sidewalk toward them, vaguely familiar. His face is mostly hidden by a high collar, but she’s sure she’s seen that shock of silver hair before.
“Give him a pair of eyes with a come-hither gleam,” Obito sings out, and Rin can see the surprise in the familiar man’s stance, in the way his steps falter, and she realizes where she knows him from.
He’s that photographer she and Minato have been interviewing, and while she doesn’t care for his usual spiky-haired, crinkle-eyed look, his hair now is soft and unstyled, falling naturally down over his scarred eye. She remembers hearing about how he got his scar, the commissioner's son defending a childhood friend. She also very clearly remembers him checking out Obito’s ass as he walked past the glass doors of the office, not that her oblivious friend noticed. Judging by the slight blush just visible over the top of Kakashi’s collar, he also finds drunk Obito attractive. Rin isn’t sure whether she should applaud him or judge him.
Obito is dancing along at Rin’s side, somehow entirely oblivious as he sings, “Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci!”
Kakashi’s face falls, and Rin would want to say something about over-identifying with Mr. Sandman of all songs, but Obito is tugging her into a spin, and she’s going to have to remind him that he’s the one who took ballet, not her. She laughs as he spins her in circles, slowly turning in place, and she raises her voice to join his, “And lots of wavy hair like Liberace!”
Kakashi has to either stop or walk right into them, and Rin’s considering just waltzing Obito into him and seeing what happens. She’s heard good things about Kakashi, all his references spoke very highly of him, and he seems like a good person in general. Not to mention Obito’s been mentioning trying dating sites again, and after the Madara disaster there’s no way Rin’s above throwing him at more appropriate alternatives.
Besides, Kakashi’s such a skinny little scarecrow she could probably snap his spine if she really needed to.
Obito is laughing now, continuing to twirl Rin around himself with all his drunken grace, and Kakashi is looking at him with such a longing expression that Rin can’t help herself.
She shoots Kakashi a mischievous grin as she remembers the next line, and she can see his alarm as he finally goes to pass them, and Obito beams at her and sings, “Mr. Sandman, someone to hold!”
She smiles sweetly as she twists out from under Obito’s arm and trips him, shoving him in the back with a laughing, “Mr. Sandman finally came through!”
Obito stumbles over his own feet, his grace deserting him as he yelps and faceplants into Kakashi’s chest, knocking the wind out of him. Kakashi wheezes and flails for a moment but manages to catch Obito before he can fall flat on his face. Obito pulls himself up, tugging Kakashi’s jacket down from around his ears, and he looks up into Kakashi’s bewildered face and blinks blearily.
Kakashi is gripping Obito’s arms, holding him upright, and he’s staring at Obito and blushing so bright Rin starts cackling. Obito doesn’t seem to hear her, and he gives Kakashi a dazed smile and says, “Hello, my dream.”
Then he pukes all over Kakashi’s shoes and passes out.
Kakashi yelps as Obito slumps against him, trying not to drop him into the mess at their feet, and Rin is laughing so hard she can’t stand anymore, slowly collapsing to snicker on the ground.
She’s definitely drunker than she thought she was.
**
Kakashi never lets Obito live it down.
He tells the story to anyone who will listen, he even tells it at their wedding, even though everyone there has heard it many times before. And no matter how many times Kakashi tells the story, Obito still blushes the whole time, every time, just as hard as he did when he realized it hadn’t been a crazy dream. But he also never stops calling Kakashi “my dream” when he’s certain there’s no one around to hear him.
Rin has a photo on her wall of Obito singing “Mr. Sandman” to Kakashi as they dance at their wedding, and even though only Kakashi’s eyes are showing over Obito’s arm, he’s got the most loving look in his eyes that she’s ever seen.