Chapter Text
Obito thought that bugbombing was something that only happened in movies, but then his Uncle Madara told him to find a place to stay for a week because they had some kind of infestation. He wouldn’t say what kind of infestation it was, but Obito assumed all of the bugs were because of all the plants Hashirama, Madara’s on-and-off again partner of a million years, sent them. Their house almost looked like a jungle as Madara refused to get rid of any of them. He also refused to let Obito stay at Hashirama’s with him, telling him to get lost.
As popular as he thought he was, Obito didn’t really have a lot of options. There was Rin, his childhood best friend and high school sweetheart. He knew she would let him stay with her in a heartbeat, but she also lived with her parents who kept pressuring them to get back together, not really accepting that Rin was a lesbian. Then there was Kakashi, who told him he couldn’t stay before Obito even finished asking. He said living with one Uchiha was hard enough and then refused to break up with Obito’s cousin Shisui when Obito begged him to. Gai was too overwhelming for him. Asuma and Kurenai just had a baby, so he didn’t want to get in their way. And Anko just responded to his text with ‘new phone, who’s this’. Which meant he had only one option left to him.
Uncle Fugaku and Aunt Mikoto were nice and they had always taken care of Obito when he needed help, but his cousins Itachi and Sasuke were both a little weird. They used to stare at Obito with their giant eyes during family parties, giving him the impression that they somehow knew exactly when and how he was going to die. He just had no idea how to talk to either of them as they didn’t really have much in common. He also just didn’t want to cram himself onto the small, extra bed in Itachi’s room, but he didn’t really have any other choice.
Aunt Mikoto was excited to see him when she opened her front door. She hugged him tightly and told him how much taller he looked even though it had only been a few weeks since they had seen each other. Then she told Sasuke to help him with the sad-looking duffle bag he brought with him. It was well past time for breakfast, but Obito obediently followed his aunt into the kitchen when she said she’d make him some pancakes. He sat on the stool she pointed and then watched her move around the kitchen, gathering all the ingredients she needed.
“So we set up everything for you in Itachi’s room, but just let me know if it’s too hot in there and then we can move you. He’s refusing to put the air conditioner in his window this year, and I’m not sure the fan will keep both of you cool enough.” Mikoto sounded frustrated, and Obito was sure she had been arguing with Itachi about the air conditioner just before he got there.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Aunt Mikoto. Thanks for letting me stay here.” Mikoto waved away his words as she started putting stuff in a bowl.
“You know you can always stay here, Obito.” Mikoto smiled at him softly before she started cracking some eggs for the pancake mix.
“Hi Obito.” Obito jumped in his seat a little as Itachi spoke just behind him, not having heard his cousin walk over. Itachi wasn’t even looking at him when Obito turned around, too busy doing something on his phone.
“Hey Itachi.” Obito was embarrassed with how high his voice sounded, still a little startled. Mikoto looked over at her son and narrowed her eyes a little, probably still frustrated about the air conditioner. But then her gaze softened as she looked at his phone.
“Are you texting Hidan and Deidara?” Obito perked up Mikoto’s question, not having heard those names before. While Itachi wasn’t entirely socially-inept, he had never really been good at making friends either.
“Yes. Hidan says ‘hi’ and wants to know if you watched last night’s episode of Survivor .” Itachi held his phone up as he spoke, like she would somehow be able to read the text from across the room. Mikoto huffed out a laugh as she shook her head.
“I haven’t, so don’t tell me any of the spoilers Hidan sent you.” Mikoto’s face got a thoughtful twist to it as she looked at Itachi and Obito. “You should invite them over. I’m sure Obito would love to hang out with you guys.” Obito and Itachi shook their heads at the same time. While Obito was happy that his cousin had made friends at college, he assumed they were just as weird as Itachi and didn’t really want to meet them.
“Sasuke doesn’t really like it when they come over.”
“That’s because they’re weird.” Obito jumped again, not having heard Sasuke enter the kitchen. Mikoto frowned at him.
“Don’t call your brother’s friends weird, Sasuke.” Sasuke scowled at his mother’s admonishment.
“But they are weird.” Itachi didn’t sound like he was trying to be mean or anything, just that he was stating a fact. Mikoto turned her frown to her other son, but Itachi didn’t notice, already texting again. She sighed loudly and then looked back at Obito.
“We only have turkey bacon, is that okay?” Mikoto was already pulling it out of the fridge before Obito could even answer. He smiled at her fondly, glad to be there despite his weird cousins.
“Yeah that’s okay. Thanks Aunt Mikoto.” Her smile widened a little as Sasuke and Itachi climbed onto the stools next to him. Then she turned her attention back to the pancake batter, pouring a little into the pan she had already prepared.
Obito was only staying with them for a week, but it felt like the longest week of his life. His drive to work took longer from his Aunt’s Mikoto’s house, and he always got stuck in traffic on his way back at the end of the day. It felt like someone else was always in the shower whenever he needed it. And Itachi’s room was so incredibly hot at night, the small fan only pushing the air around. Obito has no idea how his cousin could stand it. He only had a few days left before he could go back to his own house, but it didn’t feel soon enough.
Every night was a restless night, hard to stay asleep in the summer heat, so Obito usually woke up at the smallest noise. He had only just managed to fall asleep again when he heard something scratching at the window. He opened his eyes slowly, assuming he was about to see a raccoon trying to claw through the screen. But instead he saw Itachi locking the screen in place.
“Did you just climb in through the window?” Obito’s voice was quiet and slurred from sleep, but he knew Itachi heard him as his cousin jumped, whirling around to face him.
“No. I was just….fixing the screen.” Itachi sounded believable enough, and Obito was ready to fall back asleep. But there was enough light filtering in through the window from the streetlights for him to notice what his cousin was wearing. It looked like he had a mesh shirt on and glitter clinging to his skin.
“Is that glitter ?” Obito sat up as he asked, squinting a little to try and see better. Itachi crossed his arms tightly across his chest.
“Of course it isn’t. Go back to sleep, Obito.” Itachi closed the blinds quickly, making the night seem even darker. Then he hurried across the room, slipping through the door before Obito could ask anything else.
Obito blinked a few times, looking at the closed door, more curious about his cousin than he ever had been before. Itachi was weird, but this was a different type of weird for him. Obito didn’t have much else going on, so he decided to figure out what Itachi was up to. It probably wasn’t much of anything, but it would at least get him out of his aunt’s house for a bit.