Chapter Text
Obito squatted down, shaking his head and sighing as he shot a glare at the plants he was currently tending to. In his floppy hat and flowery apron, it was hard to associate that Obito who was quietly gardening in the front yard to the psychopathic maniac who had tried to force the entire world into a genjutsu, only to be stopped by Kakashi in the kamui dimension.
“Kakashi!” bellowed Obito, his chakra spiking with his annoyance.
“Yes, dear?” Kakashi poked his head out of the living room window. Obito stood, pointing down at his hydrangeas.
“One of your ninken has been peeing in my garden again!”
“Oh dear,” hummed Kakashi, clearly amused from the gentle twinkle in his visible eye. “I shall have to talk to them.”
“Just talk to them?”
“Talk to them severely,” Kakashi amended, smirking behind his mask.
He vanished back into the house, leaving Obito to huff petulantly and return to his gardening, secretly using mokuton to spruce up his droopy daisies. Their neighbours - a Yamanaka couple, if Obito remembered correctly - were always trying to outdo him when it came to their garden, specifically importing fancy cacti from Suna and Edelweiss from some distant mountainous region. It was all for the purpose of showing him up! And he would not have it, in spite of Kakashi’s ninken clearly being against him in this endeavour.
He bet those Yamanaka were feeding the ninken treats to sway them against him.
Either way, he finished working on his flowerbeds, watering them according to the little horticulture magazine he was subscribed to, then headed inside.
“A drink?” offered Kakashi, holding up a glass of lemonade.
“Thanks,” smiled Obito, taking the offered drink and downing it in but a few gulps. “So… it’s been a year then.”
“It has,” Kakashi replied, looking over at their calendar. “You’ve been keeping track of the days.” Obito blushed, shrugging his shoulders and chuckling quietly.
“As if you haven’t.”
Kakashi sighed, and wandered away, deeper into their little cottage. As much as Kakashi was the Hokage and responsible for the village, he didn’t exactly want to live in the newly-rebuilt Hokage mansion, staring at the blank walls that had once held trinkets from the first three Hokages, but now sat barren, neither Tsunade or Kakashi touching it.
Instead, he’d had it turned into a museum, dedicated to the history of Konoha and its clans. It was filled with old memorabilia and artefacts, visited by the Academy students as they learnt about the past. The past, filled with violence the young children of the Academy would never know.
Shaking himself out of his head, Kakashi retrieved a wicker basket from the closet, alongside a large chequered blanket. He and Obito filled it with food, and then Obito hand-picked a few of his nicest flowers and the two headed out.
They made their way down the suburban street, passing by houses of civilians and ninja alike, everyone seeming amazingly cheerful compared to the sheer terror the entire city had felt a year ago, when the world almost ended. Now, children played on the footpath, while their mothers conversed over picket fences and their fathers joked about while contemplating the barbecues in front of them. It was incredibly domestic - almost sickeningly sweet to the two battle-hardened veterans.
Still, as they walked, the world around them shifted. The suburbs gave way to the city-proper, bustling streets filled with merchants and vendors, with shinobi and civilians making their way through the crowded boulevards to find the best deals, buying groceries, or weaponry, or even new appliances. One woman came striding past with a full washing machine on her back, while a man haggled over the price of some apricots.
Obito led the way over a small bridge over the Naka river, and then along a windswept street to where the Konoha cemetery lay, silent. It was surprisingly peaceful, kept clean and maintained by the citizens of the city and treated with the reverence and respect it deserved. The two made their way through the cemetery slowly, passing by row upon row of gravestones, each holding its own name.
Finally, the pair stopped. Kakashi knelt down first, placing half of the flowers on the grave.
“Hey, Rin,” he murmured. “It’s… it’s been a year since we won.” Obito grabbed the other half of the flowers and placed them over Kakashi’s.
“Hi… I… I didn’t manage to end the world - but you know that… heh… I came back eventually, Rin… even if I was a little late.”
“Try seventeen years too late,” huffed Kakashi. “Your time management skills need work.”
“Hey! Can you see this Rin? I trained so hard to be as good as Bakakashi here, and he’s still mean to me!”
“As if,” snorted Kakashi. “You just can’t handle the truth.” The two began to laugh softly, and the wind blew through the cemetery, almost as if Rin was laughing alongside them.
“But in all honesty, Rin… I’m sorry,” whispered Obito. “I’m sorry you’re not here, I’m sorry that I took so long… I’m sorry that Kakashi never got to–”
“I’m sorry that Obito still doesn’t realise just how in love with him I am,” Kakashi interrupted, slipping his hand into Obito’s. “You hear me, Rin? He’s mine now, and I’m taking good care of him.” Obito couldn’t help but blush.
And for a brief moment, all was right with the world.