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“I really don’t know why they made you jonin!” Obito said, pointing an accusatory finger at Kakashi.
Minato sighed as his two male students quarreled for the umpteenth time.
To his greatest despair, Kakashi’s recent promotion to jonin only seemed to be fueling the animosity already raging between them. It didn’t matter how many times he had tried to instill the idea of teamwork into their brains; these two were the most stubborn kids he had ever met, and neither one of them seemed ready to relent in their long-standing rivalry.
He wasn’t even sure why he kept trying, apart from the fact that the situation had him extremely worried. Teamwork was the key component to a successful mission. A lack of it could have devastating consequences and he hoped to god this would not be his team’s fate.
“Come on,” Minato said, putting a stop to their bickering. “We’re getting close to the border. It’s time I give you the mission details.”
His three subordinates turned toward him, suddenly attentive.
“We can celebrate Kakashi’s promotion properly tonight. As a team,” he added pointedly. “Kushina said she would cook for you.” Minato smiled before turning to his most turbulent student. “And you can give him your gift then, right, Obito?”
Obito’s face turned sullen, and he muttered to himself while deliberately looking away, chin raised up and arms crossed over his chest.
“Fine, whatever. But I’m not sitting next to him.”
Kakashi huffed beside him.
“Like I care.”
Minato let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck as he inwardly sighed in despair. A small hand patted his arm and he looked down to see Rin, smiling at him reassuringly.
“It’s okay, sensei,” she said. “I got this.”
~
Kakashi rolled his eyes as Obito let out a preposterous yawn and leaned back into the chair opposite him, his hands folded over an excessively bloated stomach. They were sitting in the comfortable warmth of the Namikaze household, celebrating Kakashi’s first mission’s success as a team leader around the dinner table, just like Minato had promised. Kushina had outdone herself for the occasion, even making sure to include grilled eggplants and salt-broiled saury—his favorites—and they had all binged on more food than their stomachs could take.
“Gochisōsama deshita,” he said as he respectfully bowed his head toward Kushina, his voice a little rough with underlying emotion.
Dealing with Kushina’s motherly attitude toward him always came as a dilemma. Kushina was not his mother. He didn’t have a mother, had never had one, and he didn’t want one. Or at least, that’s what he told himself every time he rebuked her attentions—sometimes quite rudely, admittedly. And yet, he couldn’t very well ignore the things it often stirred inside him. Things he tried not to think about too much.
In truth, it was much easier acting annoyed.
But tonight, Kakashi didn’t have it in him to pretend. He was exhausted. The mission had been rough. So many things could have gone wrong, and the pressure of being responsible for the life of his teammates in the midst of a war had taken its toll. And now… well, now it just felt nice being the one taken care of, for once.
“Yeah, that was delicious, Kushina-san!” Obito said as he smacked his stomach with both hands. “Minato-sensei is really lucky to have you!”
“He sure is!” Kushina replied with a grin. She pulled a soft punch to Minato’s shoulder, eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “You hear that, Jiji?”
Minato laughed, grabbing his wife’s hand to place a soft kiss on her skin. “The luckiest.”
Kakashi averted his eyes, mildly embarrassed by the open display of affection and looked over to his left, where Rin sat. She was gazing dreamily at the couple, and he was pondering whether or not to shake his head at her naivety when he noticed Obito staring at their teammate with a similar expression on his face.
A slow smirk spread under his mask.
Most often than not, Kakashi would simply ignore Obito’s jabs at him, priding himself on taking the higher road instead of stooping to his level of pettiness. But he definitely owed him one after that utterly useless gift the Uchiha had thrown in his hands right before dinner.
’Something cool you’ll never have,’ he had said, apparently very proud of himself, if the stupid smug smile on his face was any indication.
A Sharingan.
He had offered him a freaking Sharingan. And a fake one at that, not that Kakashi ever expected Obito to carve out his own eye for his sake. Not that he would ever want to have a Sharingan in the first place anyway. In his opinion, a Sharingan was a pathetic excuse for power. It wasn’t power earned. The amazing aptitudes it gave its owner didn’t stem from hard work or talent. It was power given. Undeserved. To put it simply, Kakashi thought it was cheating. And it irked him every time Obito reminded him that he may just surpass him one day, solely because he was born an Uchiha.
So, it was without an ounce of regret that Kakashi discreetly picked up a grain of rice from the table and mercilessly flung it straight between Obito’s eyes.
Simp, he mouthed under his mask.
Obito frowned, scratching his forehead confusingly as he dragged his eyes to where Kakashi sat, doing a double take as he caught the mocking eyebrow raised in his direction. A violent blush sprouted on his cheeks, and his mouth opened, then closed immediately as his eyes flickered to the people around them, all oblivious to the fact that the dinner table had just turned into their latest battlefield. His jaw clenched, his previous embarrassment quickly leaving place to ire as their gaze locked into a heated staring contest.
Kakashi’s fingers closed tightly around his chopsticks, eyes resolutely set on Obito. He would stay there all night if need be, but he’d be damned if he ever caved first to that dumb little shit.
“Oh, it’s so late already!” Kushina suddenly said, bringing an abrupt end to their silent duel, much to Kakashi’s disappointment. “Why don’t you three stay over for the night? You can sleep in the guest room.”
He reluctantly dragged his eyes away from Obito, about to politely turn down the invitation when Rin perked up, eyes sliding from Kushina to Minato with unbridled hope.
“Can we?”
“Of course,” Minato answered. “You kids go get ready for bed; Kushina and I will handle the cleaning.”
Rin turned to each of them, the beaming smile on her face faltering a little when she took in their respective expressions.
“Come on, we’ve never had a sleepover before!” she pleaded. “It will be fun!”
A sure mastermind, she turned to Obito first, and Kakashi didn’t need to see the look on her face to guess the pout and pleading puppy eyes she was most certainly casting at their teammate.
“Obito-kun?”
“I— “ Obito glanced uncertainly from her to Kakashi and back again.
“Pretty please?”
To Kakashi’s utter disappointment (but not to his surprise), Obito’s shoulders dropped dejectedly as he immediately capitulated.
“Yeah, okay, Rinnie. I guess we can do that.”
Rin clapped joyously before turning toward him, and Kakashi tensed, feeling his own resolve already faltering under her big brown eyes. In spite of how much he liked to make fun of Obito for yielding so easily to Rin’s every demand, he had to admit their teammate had a way of getting what she wanted. Even he wasn’t completely immune to it, especially when she was looking at him like his refusal would utterly break her heart.
“Come on, Kakashi-kun,” she said, bunching her hands against her heart as she cocked her head slightly to the side. God, she was good. “Please, stay.”
Truthfully, as nice as this had surprisingly been, Kakashi wished for nothing more than some quiet alone time after all this socializing. But though he knew he was being emotionally manipulated, it was very hard saying no to someone who didn’t have a mean bone in their body. And besides, it was just sleeping, right? Maybe he could make an effort. Just this once.
He sighed loudly, just to make sure everybody knew he was being coerced into this.
“Fine. I’ll stay too.”
Rin squealed and sprung to her feet, grabbing both of their hands to yank them from their chairs and drag them into the hallway before they had a chance to change their minds. They galloped through the house, the sound of their bare feet stamping rapidly over the wooden floor echoing around them as Minato’s heartfelt laugh resounded from the kitchen.
Rin halted in front of a traditional shoji door and slid it open, not bothering to check on them before rushing inside.
Obito was about to follow suit when he froze halfway through the frame.
“There’s only one bed!” he said outraged.
Kakashi peered curiously over his shoulder, his eyes quickly scanning the room while Rin bounced happily on the edge of the double bed.
She took one peek at the large mattress and shrugged.
“It’s big enough.”
“Are you sure? I mean, how are we gonna sleep? I am not sleeping next to Kakashi!”
Kakashi rolled his eyes and purposefully bumped into him as he stepped inside the room.
“I’ll take the right side,” he declared nonchalantly, unstrapping the tanto on his back and slipping off his headband.
He walked over to the chair in the far corner near the bed and discarded both hip pouch and kunai holster, carefully placing the items in a neat pile.
“I don’t mind being in the middle,” Rin chirped.
Kakashi turned around just in time to catch Obito’s eyes widening in horror as realization hit him.
“—Wait! You’re not gonna… you can’t…”
His eyes darted between her and Kakashi, his face screwed up with intense indecision as his brain seemed to be working through its biggest conundrum yet.
Kakashi rolled his eyes, wondering if Obito could get anymore obvious. It was ridiculous, really. Like he cared whether or not Rin slept next to him. It wasn’t like he intended on doing anything; Rin and he were strictly platonic.
She was a sweet girl, and he could go as far as to admit she was pretty. In fact, if he were to ever show an inkling of interest toward having a girlfriend, Rin would probably be the only candidate he’d actually consider for the job—considering she sort of knew him already. But as it turned out, anything that didn’t serve the purpose of making him a better ninja just did not hold his interest. In his opinion, friends and girlfriends were a hindrance, and he had no need for either. Obito could rest peacefully.
“I… I’ll take the middle,” the boy finally declared. “You’ll be more comfortable on the side, Rinnie.”
“Okay. I don’t mind either way,” she replied absently as she untied the light pink skirt seizing her waist.
Kakashi had to repress a snort. He had no doubt Rin saw right through Obito’s bullshit too, and a small part of him wished she didn’t have the grace to keep quiet about it.
She pulled on her spandex shorts next, and Obito’s eyes widened for a brief second before his hands flew to his face as he spun around to hide the prodigious blush spreading all the way from the bottom of his neck to the top of his skull.
“W-What are you doing?”
Rin looked up at him, puzzled.
“Getting ready for bed. What’s wrong?”
“Y-You’re… you’re getting naked!”
“No, I’m not, you idiot,” she said, frowning. “I’m just getting comfortable. Besides, it’s not like either of you are perverts. I trust you.”
Obito craned his neck, peering through his fingers.
“I’m not, but Bakashi might be!”
Kakashi deadpanned.
“I’m not a perv.”
Obito spun back on his heels, pointing a finger toward him, daggers in his eyes.
“That remains to be proven! I swear, if you even look at Rin-chan, I will—“
“Obito!”
Obito shut up under Rin’s scolding stare, and Kakashi rolled his eyes, preferring to ignore the Uchiha’s silly accusations as he proceeded to take off his pants. Dressed in his shirt and underpants, he swiftly crawled under the covers where Rin joined him a second later.
She patted the space between them.
“Come on, Obito.”
Obito only hesitated for a second before hastily removing the entirety of his clothes, save for his boxers.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, surprised to feel the tip of his own ears burning at the sight before him.
“What?” Obito asked defensively. “This is how I sleep.”
“Right.”
Kakashi quickly glanced away, patting the side of his hair to hide his embarrassment as Obito slithered between them.
Kakashi sucked in a sudden breath and hastily wriggled a little closer to the edge, as far away as possible from Obito and the disconcerting warmth emanating from his body. He wasn’t used to people invading his personal space, always managing to keep them at a careful distance, and it was definitely weird—weird and uncomfortable—having Obito, of all people, sitting so close next to him, especially when he was half naked.
“So, uh, what now?” Obito asked as the three of them sat awkwardly against the bedhead.
Kakashi laid down and turned to face the wall, leaving them to stare at his back.
“Now we sleep,” he said as he snuggled comfortably against his pillow.
“Oh… okay,” came Rin’s disappointed voice.
He ignored her, even as the covers quietly shifted behind him. He had already made an effort just by being here, and she would have to accept that as enough. There was only so much he was willing to concede; not even Rin could get him to participate in a silly slumber party.
“Goodnight, Rinnie.”
“Goodnight, boys.”
Kakashi didn’t bother gracing them with an answer, sighing in contentment as a peaceful silence finally settled in the room.
There.
It hadn’t been so hard after all.
Heavy with sleep, his eyelids slowly closed, and he allowed the exhaustion of the day to lull him into a dozing state, more than ready to get the much needed rest he had been dreaming of ever since they had made it back to the village earlier that evening.
That is, until Obito moved behind him.
Kakashi’s eyes snapped open and he scowled, taking it upon himself to patiently wait for his teammate to find a good sleeping position. But the shuffling behind him only intensified as the minutes mercilessly ticked by, each of them dragging him further and further away from the sweet release of a long and curative night and soon, Kakashi was fully gritting his teeth.
He hadn’t realized just how tense he had become until Obito’s foot suddenly grazed against his calf, sending a jolt of electricity through his leg. Kakashi jumped, spinning at once to glare at him.
“Will you stop moving?!” he bellowed.
“It’s not my fault I can’t sleep!” Obito retorted just as angrily as he sprung from the mattress to face him. “You’re… you’re too warm!”
Kakashi scoffed, trying to ignore the way his skin tingled and burned where Obito had touched him.
A sigh came from Rin’s side, and she rose as well, something akin to exasperation painting her features.
“Well, I can’t sleep either,” she said. “So, how about we play a game?”
“I don’t want to play a game,” Kakashi shot back frustratingly. “I want to sleep!”
“What game?” Obito asked, and Kakashi had to resist the urge to smack him unconscious.
A devious, barely contained smile spread on Rin’s face, and Kakashi narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. He had spent enough time with her to know when his teammate was up to something, and the spark of malice that had suddenly started dancing in her eyes did not bode well for him.
“Gay chicken.”
Kakashi’s mouth fell open, his brain barely registering Obito’s similar reaction as he found himself too dumbstruck to even speak. He just stared at Rin, waiting for her face to break into a fit of laughter as she squealed “gotcha!”, but the grin on her face did not falter, and his neurons finally caught up with the fact that she was actually being serious.
“Hell no!” he and Obito exclaimed as one as their brains kickstarted in unison.
“I’m not— I’m not kissing him!” Obito added, outraged.
Rin giggled behind the hand covering her mouth.
“Technically, you don’t have to kiss him, Obito-kun. You can always chicken out, but...” She leaned toward Obito and whispered something in his ear, too low for even Kakashi to catch on.
He frowned, sleep long forgotten as the anxiety of being left out of whatever was going on made his heart speed up. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this one bit.
Obito’s eyes suddenly widened, his face bursting into flames as he all but whimpered.
Kakashi had never seen him blush so strongly before, and the feeling of dread only intensified in his chest, especially when Obito’s eyes shifted to him, a newfound resolve suddenly burning intensely in them.
He sucked in a breath and swallowed thickly, reining in the urge to shuffle back on the bed. There was no way…
Obito wiggled his eyebrows at him.
“Scared, Bakashi?”
“What did you say?” Kakashi hissed as he shot Rin a murderous glare.
She shrugged, and Kakashi stared at his teammates, wondering when they had both lost their goddamn minds. He and Obito could barely stand being in the same room together, and now they both wanted them to kiss? He had never even kissed anyone yet! Had never even planned to! This was beyond ridiculous, it was the kind of stuff civilian kids did, not shinobis!
“It’s okay!” Obito continued. “I mean, I didn’t think the mighty Kakashi could be rattled by something as meaningless as a kiss, but I guess even you have your weaknesses. Man, I can already see the look on Genma’s face when I te—”
“I’m not scared!” he all but shouted, the panic bubbling inside his chest making it hard to keep a tight control over himself.
They both shot him a dubious look, and Kakashi suddenly found it hard to breathe. He knew he could technically say no, he didn’t even have to explain himself for fuck’s sake. But somehow, the thought of losing face to Obito bothered him more than he cared to admit.
“I... I’ll do it.”
The words escaped his mouth before he had a chance to think them through, and he found himself regretting them almost immediately.
“Yattaaaa!” Obito exclaimed, his fist pumping up in the air.
The room quickly faded around Kakashi as the pounding of his heart drummed louder and louder in his ears. He barely registered Rin moving around as she scurried to sit between them on the bed, looking expectantly at the two of them. He briefly wondered how long his teammate had been aiming for something like this. He had always known Rin to be a lot more impish than she appeared, but he had never taken her for a voyeur before. And yet, there was an unmistakable hunger in her eyes, a curiosity that called to his own in spite of how uncomfortable and scared he felt.
His eyes shifted to Obito again and he was mildly relieved to see the Uchiha had somewhat lost a bit of his composure. He was wringing his hands in his lap, shifting relentlessly as his eyes darted back and forth between where Kakashi sat and anywhere but where Kakashi sat.
“I’m… I’m warning you, Bakashi!” he said, his voice not quite as confident as earlier. “I won’t back out!”
Kakashi sat silent, not sure what to make of it. Was this an intimidation technic? Nevermind that he only half-heartedly believed the Uchiha, but would he himself back out? Every nerve in his system was firing up, a reaction he recognized as his fight or flight instinct. But never even in his worst mission had he ever felt this way.
‘It’s just a kiss, it’s just a kiss’, he repeated to himself like a mantra. Nothing to be scared of. He couldn’t die from a kiss. Of shame maybe, but Obito would be right there with him. And no one would ever have to know about this. Rin would keep her mouth shut, that much he knew, and she couldn’t judge them. She had been the one to instigate it after all.
With a silent curse, Kakashi squared his shoulders, trying to appear as unbothered and confident as he usually did. His best shot was to call Obito on his bluff, and he hoped to the gods that would be enough to deter the Uchiha. He could come out of this unscathed if he just got Obito to back out first.
“Good. I won’t either.”
Obito narrowed his eyes, searching for the hint of lie in his words but Kakashi remained unfazed, gratifying him with his blankest, most unimpressed stare. Obito huffed.
“You’re not gonna wear that, are you?” he asked, gesturing toward his face.
Kakashi frowned, having completely forgotten about his mask.
“I’m not taking it off.”
“I’ll allow it,” Rin chirped before Obito could protest.
Obito shot one look at her and inhaled sharply, the rise and fall of his naked chest momentarily distracting Kakashi from his face. A fatal mistake, he realized albeit a little too late as he quickly looked back up, only to be greeted by the truly terrifying image of Obito leaning toward him, eyes shut and lips puckered comically together in a distasteful grimace.
Kakashi almost reeled back, the need to slam his hand into Obito’s face and shove him away threatening to take over. But the rational part of his brain—the one he could always count on—recognized this as Obito’s silly attempt to rattle him and get him to yield.
Except Kakashi wouldn’t yield. If Obito was this desperate, it only meant he wasn’t as willing to go all the way as he had let on. He would break first. He would break first, because Kakashi wasn’t going to, he knew that now.
Obito’s eyes fluttered open as he checked for Kakashi’s reaction, and Kakashi jumped in, seizing the occasion to make his move. It was now or never. He shut his eyes and surged forward, waiting for Obito’s inevitable scream of disgust.
Their lips touched.
Kakashi’s eyes snapped open, immediately meeting Obito’s own widening stare. He waited for him to pull back, to yell at him and accuse him of being a pervert, but Obito stood still, mirroring Kakashi’s own frozen state as their mouths stayed glued to each other, unmoving.
His lips tingled where they met, even through the thin fabric of the mask, and Kakashi suddenly felt the unexpected need to press harder, to maybe move his mouth a little, to understand and examine this weird new sensation, that sudden warmth coursing through his body—
Rin squealed, clapping her hands excitedly, and he and Obito jumped back at once. Kakashi exhaled sharply, only now realizing he had been holding his breath this whole time.
He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks and he quickly looked away, his brain trying to process what the fuck had just happened.
“I knew it! I knew it! Oh my god! I can’t believe you actually went through with it! I mean, I knew you would, but still, like, do you have any idea how stubborn the two of you are? I just—“
His eyes snapped back to Rin, just in time to catch her grabbing Obito’s face and planting a merciless kiss on his lips. Kakashi’s mouth fell open and Obito’s eyes bulged, threatening to pop out of their socket while his whole body turned pink.
Rin let go of him as abruptly as she had seized him and turned to Kakashi at once. He barely had time to process what was going on before she molded her soft lips against his, effectively stealing his second kiss. She pulled back before he could react, and his hand immediately shot up to his mouth as he stared at her wildly.
“Rin!”
“Hey!” Obito protested loudly. “Why did he get a kiss too? That wasn’t the deal!”
Rin’s hand shot up as she covered her mouth to hide her giggle, the faintest hint of pink coating her cheeks.
“Who are you really jealous of Obito-kun? Me or Kakashi?”
To Kakashi’s surprise, Obito didn’t protest vehemently as he once would have, instead turning an even darker shade of red as he looked away, mumbling something incomprehensible under his breath.
“Why did you kiss me?” Kakashi couldn’t help but ask. He wasn’t exactly sure toward whom he was aiming the question, still too stunned by the rapid succession in which the recent events had taken place for his brain to function properly.
If he was being truly honest with himself though, what rattled him most was the fact that it had felt good. Good to be kissed. By Obito. By Rin. And he was too goddamn shaken to even start to comprehend what that meant. He was supposed to hate physical touch for heaven’s sake!
“Why did you kiss me?” Obito shot back.
“You… you were supposed to back away!”
“But I told you I wouldn’t!”
“Oh my god, you two shut up already!” Rin exclaimed exasperatedly. “You both like each other! That is why you kissed. How neither of you has figured that out yet just blows my mind, but can you please just admit it and stop fighting once and for all?”
Obito’s head whipped so fast toward her Kakashi fleetingly worried for his neck, even in the midst of his own outrage at Rin’s insinuation.
“I do not like Bakashi!”
Rin scowled at him, daring him to contradict her one more time.
“Yes, you do. And he likes you back. But you two are complete morons and I am done waiting for either of you to come to your senses!” she said. “Minato-sensei thinks you hate each other! He’s very worried, you know. And it’s tiring for the both of us, and it puts us all in danger when you act like you can’t even work properly together on missions!”
Kakashi shrunk under her glare, noticing Obito doing the same in the corner of his eye. Rin didn’t get mad often, but when she did, she could become truly terrifying. Kakashi had long learned it was best not to contradict her whenever that happened. Mostly because she was usually right, too. And it was that thought that kept spinning in his mind as he silently took the scolding, replaying every memory he shared with the Uchiha under this new light of awareness. Because if Rin was right and he… liked… Obito… Well, he was truly an idiot, wasn’t he?
“But then…” Kakashi frowned. “Then, why did you kiss us?”
“Oh, uh.” Rin faltered at once, looking suddenly embarrassed. “Well… because I like you both, too… And I thought… I thought maybe… we could all… like each other? As in… together?”
“Together? What do you mean together?!” Obito exclaimed. “Like boyfriend and girlfriend,” he shot a look at Kakashi, “…and boyfriend?”
“I don’t know! I just… yes, I guess. It’s not like I thought this through!”
“It certainly seems like you’ve thought about it a lot more than us though,” Kakashi remarked with a lift of his eyebrow.
“Well, I had to, being the only one with a properly functioning brain around here!” she shot back vehemently, and Kakashi shut up at once.
“So… what now?” Obito asked again.
A long silence stretched between them until Rin finally sighed.
“Now we sleep,” she said. “It’s not like we have to figure it out right this second. We… we’ve got time, right?”
She shot them a timid look and Kakashi nodded, somewhat relieved to finally get some time to process the giant earthquake that had just shaken his life upside down.
He had never cared for friends, or girlfriends, or… or boyfriends… but now? Now there was a part of him that yearned for more of this. Somehow, his solitude suddenly didn’t seem as safe and comforting as the thought of not having to go through life alone. Yes, he had lost his father, and he had never known his mother, but there were still people who cared about him, who cared if he made it home in one piece, and who were still very much alive. And maybe… maybe it was alright to let them in. To allow himself to be loved… and to love back. While they were still here. While they still had time.
His heart fluttered in his chest when Rin reached for his hand and gently rubbed her thumb over his skin. He looked up at her, and she smiled softly, not bothering to say anything. Words weren’t needed. She knew and she understood and she was telling him it was okay. Okay to be scared. Okay to want this. And that he wasn’t alone. Would never be alone again.
She pulled him toward her as she laid back on the bed, bringing him and Obito down to her sides. Together, they shuffled under the covers, and Kakashi nestled next to her as she laid their hands over her stomach.
“Goodnight boys,” she murmured, tenderly squeezing their hands in hers.
“Goodnight, Rinnie,” Obito replied with a yawn.
Kakashi squeezed her fingers beneath his, allowing the content feeling in his heart to lull him back into a peaceful slumber.
~
Kushina delicately closed the door to the guest room and turned towards her husband, quietly stepping into his embrace and threading her hands through his hair as he looked down to her questioningly.
“I think they’ll be alright,” she whispered, answering his silent question. A fond smile broke out on her face as her fingers absently played with a few of his rebellious strands. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and she rested her head against his chest . “He’ll be alright.”