Chapter Text
Everything in this land flourished, the trees bore fruit, the fields gave back grains, the forests had hunting. The forests of Fire Country were always a symbol of power and opulence. The will of fire flourished among shinobi and civilians alike and Kakashi had been to enough countries in missions to know that that wasn’t always the case for other villages. Konoha had a privileged advantage, it'd had since the forests flourished inside the first Hokage's veins and he was able to pull the village together as easily as he pulled trees from the ground.
Everything in this land flourished, and love flourished in Kakashi's heart at a moment of loss, when it was already too late. He knew loss, he knew regret, he didn't know love. Maybe that's why he only recognized it once it was gone. Obito was gone, and Kakashi’s heart, which he had always thought was already closed off to any feelings that resembled hope, was now broken again, dry and barren. Rin, sensei and Kushina-san tried to help him even if they couldn’t understand how Kakashi could mourn so much the loss of a teammate he repeatedly said he hated.
During his bad moments, Kakashi touched Obito’s eye over his eyelid as he looked at himself in the mirror, hoping that the gentle touches could be transmitted to him in the afterlife somehow. In his worse moments he stood in front of the mirror holding a knife and telling himself that this time he would do it, he’d pluck out Obito’s gift because he was undeserving of such sacrifice. The nightmares haunted him, but he’d still wake up and go to work the next day, complete his missions, report to his Hokage, train with his teammates, and try to smother the buds of his love for Obito that were taking root in his heart. Sage, who was he trying to fool? His love for his dead teammate was far past the budding phase, it was already as tall and strong as the trees in Fire Country, as the first Hokage’s mokuton, roots so powerful that were threatening to crumble his feeble heart with its force. It was already too late for pretense. It was too late to enjoy his love too.
Everything in this land flourished, even the dead. Kakashi remembered the first time he saw a dead person walking again, and it was nothing like the horrific visions of his father he saw in his nightmares. Dead Obito should be covered in blood and hatred, ready to haunt Kakashi since he sacrificed his life for him. But a living, breathing Obito was something he didn’t allow himself to picture, not even in his most outlandish dreams, not even in his worst nightmares. But not that night. That night the dead boy that he loved so much, that sacrificed himself to save Kakashi, flourished once again and prevented even greater catastrophes.
He remembered how his Raikiri was close to Rin's chest, he remembered the sad realization that despite Obito’s sharingan, he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself or dodge her, he remembered going through grief all over again in the span of a second. And then another second later, he, Rin, and every other shinobi still standing on the battlefield were wrapped in thick branches of trees, rendering them all still.
His sharingan turned to look at the source of it, and it recognized Obito before his rational brain could. Obito was flourishing again, together with budding hope in his broken heart, and Kakashi dreaded it, because he wasn’t sure he could survive this all over again. When he saw Obito’s face again for the first time since he died, Kakashi finally felt his heart being split into pieces and crumbling under the powerful roots of hope. His weak heart, that didn’t crumble in face of lost love nor in face of grief, now ached at the possibility that his love was alive again and Kakashi was afraid.
***
He spent countless sleepless nights by Obito’s side not wanting to miss a single second. What if he lost the moment the boy woke up? What if he missed the moment Obito let out his last breath? He wouldn't be able to live with himself either way. The nurses were nice enough with him, letting him stay in Obito’s bedroom since he was Rin-chan's teammate, even though he hated the pitiful looks they sent him when they assured him that Obito would indeed wake up, that he just needed some time to recover after his chakra exhaustion. But Kakashi couldn’t, wouldn’t, leave his side. He prayed and he begged to he didn't even know what gods to let Obito live this time, cursing his life and wishing they'd take him instead. Kakashi didn’t know when was the last time he prayed for something.
It was just his luck that Obito woke up during one of his involuntary naps by his feet. He didn't notice he was sleeping, he didn't remember falling asleep, he just felt the weak poking on his right shoulder and his head was violently kickstarted awake.
“Obito?” He raised his head from his folded arms by Obito’s legs and met a familiar yet strange gaze.
“Bakashi?”
He felt the prickling of tears blurring his vision and buried his face in his arms again. The last time he cried was because of Obito's death, it only made sense that he cried again when he came back from the dead.
“Oh gods, thank gods, you're alive, you're alive you’re here- you're…” His stupid voice was breaking and stupid hiccups were shaking his body and Obito was right there and alive and well and he just couldn't-
“Kakashi?” He heard again and felt Obito touching his shoulder lightly, and he suddenly noticed he was gripping Obito’s leg in his immense wave of relief. Surprised, he jolted back to sit straight on his small stool.
“How are you feeling, Obito?” He asked, trying to sound fine and in control like he always was and he hoped Obito didn't notice he was adjusting his mask and headband to cover his tears.
“What are you doing here?” Obito answered his question with another question.
“I was- I was waiting… for you. For you to wake up.” Kakashi hoped his easy blush wouldn't show past his mask and that Obito wouldn't notice it. He couldn't look lame in front of the boy he loved.
“How long was I out?”
“A week maybe? I'm not sure what day it’s today.”
Kakashi raised his head to the clock and it marked exactly 2h17 in the morning and he felt like a failure of a shinobi, not even knowing what day it was. He leveled his gaze back to Obito and… this could be a trick of light or just the side effects of running on three naps of an hour per day for maybe a week give it or take but… there was… something… in Obito's hair… ? Was that a twig? With a leaf? And a? Flower? How did it get there? The window was closed and sealed, Kakashi made sure for Obito’s own safety.
“Were you here all this time?” There was this awe in Obito's voice that made Kakashi even more self conscious and he had to fight his instincts to squirm under that single black eye.
“Yes, well…” Another white flower grew out of the twig breaking his concentration and this time Kakashi was sure of what he saw, he wasn’t hallucinating. Yet.
“Why would you stay here for so long?”
Kakashi felt in the spotlight with the question so he put his hands on his hips and turned this conversation around. “You know, it took you some time to wake up!”
He didn't know why he was blaming Obito of all people for making him stay in the hospital, gods he was such an idiot! And now he was blushing even more! Obito didn't seem to mind that though, and that big silly smile that pulled at Kakashi's heartstrings cracked open in his face like dawn was approaching and Kakashi's sun was already in the room and he forgot to breathe for some seconds.
Then before any of them could say anything else, tendrils of… something were escaping from under Obito’s tightly wrapped bandages and growing out from his whole right side, and getting bigger and thicker, growing from twigs into branches and there were leaves and white flowers blooming from all around as Obito’s idiotic smile didn't falter. When he finally noticed what was coming out of his body, the room had already become something akin to the deepest forests of Fire Country, maybe the vegetation was as dense as in the Forest of Death, if there were such beautiful white flowers on that godforsaken place. It grew from all the walls, floor covered in winding roots and ceiling covered in branches heavy with big leaves and giant white flowers. Kakashi may have only slept 10 hours in the last week, but not even that could cause him to hallucinate on this level. Thankfully Obito was the one to ask the stupid question.
“Are you seeing this shit?”
Kakashi wanted to joke and tease him, there was probably a sharingan joke there somewhere, but he couldn't make any snarky comment, he was too shocked as it was so he only nodded and muttered a small yes as both him and Obito stared awestruck at the beautiful tree-like things that sprung to life from Obito's right side.
There were nurses running into the room the next moment, looking even more puzzled at the sudden forest inside their hospital room. They went out and brought back the medical nin responsible for Obito’s case and some pairs of shears and gardening scissors.
“He has the First Hokage's cells mixed in his blood.” He tried to explain to them, and yes, Kakashi could see the connection of Shodaime’s mokuton with the forest that grew out of Obito in the battlefield and now. But how is that possible?
“Kakashi, where is sensei? Maybe he'll know what's going on.”
“He and Kushina-san left for one of the abandoned outposts to try to save Rin.”
A shocked expression crossed through his face. “Sage, is she alright?”
“Yes you-” Kakashi interrupted himself before he continued down that train of thought. You arrived in the nick of time he almost said. One second, half a second too late and Kakashi's hand would be piercing through Rin’s heart with his Raikiri, he almost said. No need to remind Obito of that, it's surprising enough he's not yelling at Kakashi for breaking his promise and almost… almost… no need to say it.
“She still has the Three Tails inside her.” He explained instead.“Minato-sensei grabbed her and took her to the south border right after you passed out from chakra exhaustion. I came back to Konoha with you and told Kushina-san about it and she, Lady Biwako and other Uzumakis from the sealing corps headed to the same outpost.”
Now Obito’s expression was of relief and Kakashi resented it. “And is Rin ok?”
“Yes, Minato-sensei sometimes teleports back to keep the Hokage updated, apparently it's a tough seal to crack, but Rin is ok.”
Obito visibly sighed in relief and slumped against his pillow. Kakashi's stomach tied itself into a knot he couldn’t understand. He didn't have time to consider as the doctors arrived at Obitos room asking a hundred questions per second.
***
It turned out that Obito had been in a coma for ten days, not seven as Kakashi initially thought, and after that first night with his room becoming a tree, he was kept at the hospital some more days for evaluation. Some of the hospital staff had to come down to chop off all the branches and roots and Kakashi felt a tinge of sadness that something so beautiful, something so beautiful that Obito created, had to be cut down.
He kept Obito company as long as the doctors let him, with the nurses still insisting on him going home and taking a rest, but he could take a rest when he made sure that Obito was alive, well, safe, comfortable at his house, with no threats whatsoever, no health risks, no weird health problems that included trees springing out from him.
Every time after taking a shower and eating something at his place, Kakashi headed back straight to Obito’s room.
“Hello Obito.”
“Hi Kakashi!” He noticed a small flower growing on Obito's hair and Kakashi felt the corners of his mouth turning up in a small smile. Even if they didn't know the reason for this strange manifestation of mokuton, it still looked cute on Obito. It fit him, somehow.
“You know you don't have to visit me everyday.”
“Of course I have to, you're my teammate.”
“Oh… yes… of course.” There was a resigned edge on his voice and guilt coursed through Kakashi.
“And… you're my friend. We’re friends.” His stupid mouth said before he could control it, and Obito's face clearly brightened up.
“Really?” He asked as a few more buds grew rapidly from his hair.
“Really.” Kakashi tried to keep the fondness from his smile, but he might have sounded exasperated in the process. It didn't seem to bother Obito, as more and more flowers bloomed in his hair.
Kakashi watched with a small smile still on his face, unable to turn away from the sharp contrast between the bright white of the flowers against Obito's black hair and black eye. It was mesmerizing in some way. His hair was long, it probably hadn’t been cut for some time, it looked shaggier than most Uchiha’s, with wild spikes sticking to different directions. Kakashi liked it, it made Obito seem older somehow.
“What?! Is it the flowers again?!” Obito asked, sounding exasperated and his hands carded through his hair uncarefully ripping the flowers from their roots and Kakashi's heart broke a little. His hands were over Obito’s in a second, stopping his motions before he could think. Since Obito came back from the dead Kakashi had been doing a lot of impulsive stuff, it was very unbecoming of him and it tainted his reputation as a reliable shinobi and he hated that side of himself. But he couldn't just let Obito do this, rip the flowers that were now a part of him, that brought him back to life, because he was ashamed.
“Don't do this. The flowers they're…” Kakashi wanted to say that they were cute, that they were so Obito in a way, that he loved them, that he never liked flowers before seeing them grow on Obito's body but now he loved them, that he was thankful for them bringing him back to life.
“They're… you.” Kakashi tried to say it without sounding like such a lame ass.
“Me?” Obito was confused and Kakashi clenched his teeth knowing he should’ve known better about making vague statements because he was in love with a brash idiot and he knew it.
“They’re a part of you now. The flowers, the trees, the mokuton, they're what saved your life and are keeping you alive, so I think we should be careful with them.” Kakashi patted obito's hair distractedly, trying to smooth the flowers back again, though some were broken and pressed now. “We should be grateful for them. They brought you back.”
The number of flowers in Obito's hair doubled as Kakashi spoke and his eyes grew. It was sort of amazing that his chakra alone could create them. Kakashi's chakra only produced lightning and death and hatred. It made sense that Obito’s could create life and beauty and hope. He felt his smile grow wider.
“You do have a lot of flowers in you, maybe when you get it under control they will stop spontaneously growing in your hair. Though it's kind of cute.”
Kakashi froze at his realization and he wanted to sucker punch himself for saying the last part out loud. He waited, afraid that he went too far and had made his crush obvious to Obito, but when he looked to Obito’s cheeks, they were red and his mouth was hanging open in shock. Then more little buds of white petals sprung from the red spots in Obito’s skin, from his cheeks, his shoulders, his neck and chest, making Kakashi even more intrigued.
“Wow, they grow fast.” He said absent mindedly and at the words Obito brought a hand to cover his mouth and coughed a little, cleaning his throat.
“Yeah, well, I'll get the hang of this in no time, Bakashi, you'll see!” And Kakashi just knew he would.
He supposed he never paid much attention to flowers until they started blooming out of Obito’s hair, but now he was hypnotized by them, seeing them move with his hair while his crush talked his ass off about something silly that Kakashi didn’t care about.
Looking out of the window he could see that the little garden in the back of the hospital sported the same flowers that grew in Obito’s head, but while the ones in his crush’s hair were always white, the ones out there were various sickening shades of pink and a few were red. Images flood back into his memory as Obito blabbered, from that time they came back successful from the mission to destroy the Kannabi Bridge and he sat there idly in hospital stretchers looking at nothing at all, replaying his memories of Obito’s death inside his head while nurses and doctors assessed him, poking his eye and his other injuries. Back then those same pink flowers were in the background. And now they were here again like a plague. Maybe they bloomed in the same season, had it really been a year? Almost, it had been ten months since Obito’s supposed death.
Kakashi never realized it but he hated them. He hated those pink abundant flowers that seemed to laugh at his grief, a mocking reminder that life would go on even in face of losing Obito, losing his love.
“Oi Bakashi, are you listening to me?”
Kakashi turned from those hateful flowers from the window, to look at white versions of them with petals caught between Obito’s strands of hair. A smile broke in his face before he could control it, and more and more buds grew in Obito’s long hair.
“Of course not, I don't speak idiot .”
“Oi! Bakashi!” Obito yelled and he got even redder, either from shame or rage Kakashi couldn’t tell, but this only made the buds on his cheeks grow more and bloom.
But now, Kakashi loved flowers. The white ones at least.