Chapter Text
***
The survival of such a crucial figure – one who kindled half of the existing conflicts to life – was not an easy affair. For multiple, and obvious, reasons. To simply put, the fact that he continues to breathe left a sour aftertaste for the thousands of shinobi. The number could have been up to a million, if he only wasn't so thorough. So cruel. And, knowing that this monster was still out there, left his victims devastated. Understandably so. Yet, there was nothing they could do about it. The world was never fair and it will never be. Still, that little inconvenience, one saved life while others lay dead, was not met happily nor quietly. Naruto made sure of the latter, Sasuke's freedom was on the line too, after all. He just had to turn everything upside down or he wasn't Naruto Uzumaki.
That boy, Naruto Uzumaki, is one of the most forgiving people that he has ever encountered. Such a pure and good heart he carries, despite all the hardships and loss. Bursting with the unlimited life energy and unconditional love, free for anyone to bask in its warmth.
«I wish I had some of that, back when it mattered,» – even the thought felt like nothing more but wishful thinking.
Naruto is just too kind.
But, even Naruto's kindness has a limit. And for someone, like him, it reached a dead end a long time ago. Obito had no illusions in regards to who the boy actually wanted out of the prison and who he just tried to free from a good will. In spite of everyone's saying. It was incredibly obvious and he was in no way surprised, when Naruto stopped attending negotiations considering Obito's fate, after Sasuke was freed first, nor he felt any sort of resentment for being left behind. Why would he? Obito was never deserving of Naruto's presence and even less that kindness of his.
In the end of the day, Naruto tried and for that Obito is more than thankful.
Realistically, of course it was easier to excuse a young, easy to influence and deeply traumatized teenager than someone of Obito's caliber of fucked up. There were little to no excuses for the depth of hurt caused by his hands. Obito’s trial was a lost cause from the start, but he wasn't about to stop determined Naruto from attempting to defend his name, anyway. Wouldn't be able, even if he wanted to. Obito just knows that Naruto will too stop trying, finally understanding that there's nothing he can do. How futile it is. Turns out he was absolutely right. What he predicted was exactly what happened in the end.
–No hard feelings, ok? – Naruto beamed at him trying to cheer up.
The attempt land flat, as he sounds so tired, defeated, even.
– Besides, Kakashi sensei will do anything to free you! – he tried again.
Obito doubts it, but rationally decides to not voice it. The poor kid already has enough on his plate.
–Of course he has it all under control, after all, that's Kakashi we are talking about, right? – huffed Obito.
If only Obito himself believed in anything he just said. A white lie, but it can't do no harm, in such a dire situation. He doesn't want to make Naruto even more sad. There's no need for him to feel any anguish, especially not for someone like Obito.
The reality was that Kakashi won't bother, Naruto just doesn't need to know that.
«It is the older fools problem, kids shouldn't be tangled in this,» – is what he believes.
What could Naruto possibly do about that situation, even if Obito decided to speak about it? Hit sensei's rump with a rasengan – as Uzumaki always does – and shout about ignoring his “other half”? Ridiculous. Maybe this would have been even an amusing show to witness, if only someone wasn't too proud to admit of needing help.
Madara actually did bring a real Uchiha out of Obito.
The core reason for such a strong belief, that Kakashi won't bother with him overall, was all too personal, too. It is about them and their relationship. As it is natural, Obito has own concerns regarding one Hatake and he held them too close to a heart to share. With anybody, really. Ashamed himself sometimes. Especially the thoughts about Kakashi's presence. Or its absence. In blatant contrast to the student of his, Naruto's sensei didn't cross the threshold of the prison where they were held at. Not even to see Sasuke. Not a single once.
Kakashi's well missed presence was hurting Obito. More than he ought to show.
–Just so you know, Sasuke, sensei doesn't ignore you, – assured Naruto.
–I know that it is not me that is the problem, dobe.
They all know damn well what is at fault for Kakashi's absence. Or more like who. It's him. Obito is the problem. Of course it is him, it is always him.
But it doesn't make any sense.
Obito, ever the delusional one, believed that they made up at the end of the 4th great ninja war. Well, not exactly, but something really close to it. There was a mutual understanding, at least. Or was he wrong about it? Did Obito imagine that bond between them starting to bloom, again? No, it can't be. He sure is a bit unkempt in the social department, cave and a plant were his only friends these past 10 years after all, but he could not mistake this longing for connection – love – in Kakashi's mismatched eyes. There is no way.
But, maybe, it was his stupid mind that was playing tricks on him. Or Black Zetsu somehow at fault. That could explain everything.
Kakashi didn't come, because there was no bond flourishing between them. For a relationship to bloom, the seed of connection should be planted first. They weren't exactly friends at academy and then later as chunin's.
What is there to grow if the soil is empty?
Even so, it felt like they were at least on a way towards reconciliation. Obito saved Kakashi, almost dying himself, for the second time. This, at least, should have meant something. But it didn't. Kakashi wasn't even considering the possibility of a visit, from all the little bits that Naruto bargainingly shared.
Does what they had meant nothing to Kakashi? Or did Obito give himself too much importance?
It is only Obito, who clung to the last remaining pieces of the relationship that they had, isn't it?
It seems to be the truth.
Pathetic.
Obito Uchiha is just a pathetic loser who was rejected by the only one who matters. Who he love.
But at the same time, all of it is just his own conclusions. Obito doesn't know anything for certain, about what is the actual reason for this prolonged silence from the other side. For all he knows the explanation could be far easier. Kakashi may just need space. Who wouldn't be in this situation? So much happened during the war to grasp it easily and walk away. Much to unpack and plenty of things to think through, even years after. It will take time to heal.
And Obito? Center figure, who began a ripple effect with his actions?
The boy, who Kakashi's spent a whole life grieving, was there and on the opposite side of battle?
No wonder he wouldn't want to see Obito. Kakashi is hurt and this type of pain leaves a scar so deep it may as well touch the soul. He may not recover. Or never want to see him again. And that Obito more than understands. He respects Kakashi's wish to not see him and keeps his worry to himself. But, if such a day, when Kakashi is ready to face him, comes, Obito will be waiting for him. All while missing and dreaming about the man every hour.
Life carries on regardless.
Day after day Naruto visits – no Kakashi in sight – and talks their, both Sasuke and Obito, ears off. Sometimes the Uzumaki would forget about the existence of the other Uchiha whatsoever. Which is fair, Obito would try to forget himself too, in the boy's place. Amaterasu knows how he deserves it. But, sometimes, he talked with him, too. Nothing much more than empty chatter, but it was still highly appreciated. Sasuke on the other hand stayed quiet, most of the time, satisfied to just let his friend – or whatever they are – speak for them both. This Naruto was more than happy to comply and did so with pleasure.
That's how the time went on for two unlucky war prisoners.
But, of course, it came to an end.
Sasuke's trial ended and the conditions of his freedom were established.
Listening to Naruto's brief and surprisingly very detailed retelling of said conditions, Obito only then understands that Sasuke, his one and only company, will be moving out soon.
This knowledge shouldn't have saddened him.
It is not that Obito really had any deep familial bond with the boy, so there should be no anguish about the departure, really. That rock crushed him long before Sasuke was even born. Obito never saw him grow, nor did the kid know him as a babysitter, like Itachi did. But it was there. As stubborn and annoying as weed. No matter how much he tried to deny it, it was there.
He never asked about it, but the bond was made anyway and was there to stay.
For the last few months Sasuke Uchiha was held in a cell nearby. They never saw each other eye to eye, the prison built that way for a reason, nor did they talk.
Besides, was there anything for him to say? Sasuke didn't care about apologies and Obito isn't the type to say sorry, anyway.
Still, the simple knowledge that there's someone out here, sharing the same silence, was more than enough. It was simple, but it was there.
«I would miss this sprout,» – he only half-jokingly think.
On the day when Sasuke was about to get the freedom back, they didn't speak, nor acknowledged each other's existence – until they did. There was no reason for that.
Besides, what was there to talk about? They were just a teen, who accidentally got wrapped up in adult games of power and said grown up, who doesn't know how to live a day without manipulating someone. No blood connection could excuse how Obito tried to use Sasuke's emotional instability for his plans. They both know it.
And yet the connection was still there, despite it.
Perhaps, it was just the understanding. A shared pain.
But it wasn't enough to cross the wall, built between them. Sasuke would walk away today, and he will do so in silence.
Or so he thought. Because, this is not what exactly happened.
Sasuke paused for a brief moment near the exit. He stood there too long for it to just be caution or nerves. No, Sasuke stopped and didn't leave yet on purpose. He was waiting for something. Obito sighs, understanding why pretty quickly. Today might be the last time Obito and Sasuke see each other alive. Even though one of them is not going to face the death penalty, the same can not be said for another, yet.
They are still each other's last remaining family, at the end of the day.
–Goodbye, Sasuke, – was all he managed to master.
There should have been far more for him to say, than this. So many apologies for all the ways he wronged his poor boy. All of it left hanging, unsaid.
But he wasn't trying to apologize. Excuse himself. Those would be just empty words, coming from him.
It wouldn't be enough, anyway.
–Goodbye, – Sasuke rasped in response.
The Uchiha slightly shifted, not fully so Obito could have actually seen his face and expression, but just enough to catch a slight movement of his head, when Sasuke nodded.
«The audacity».
He turned around and finally left. With the departure the air felt easier, lighter, this time.
The door closed behind Sasuke with a loud rattle, he was gone for good, and Obito mentally said farewell to any social interaction he previously had, however hesitant or awkward they were.
He really will going to miss this kid, isn't he?
***
Another month went by in complete isolation and absence of action.
No light, no rest – he doesn't exactly need sleep to survive which only adds hours of being awake – and no communication.
Naruto's nonsensical blabbering was highly missed. It's sad that he would not come back.
All he could do is think. Think and ponder over past mistakes and the cruelty of his actions. To look truth in the eyes and admit that he became truly a monster, even by a ninja standard. Lots of baggage to think about. Supposedly. Because, Obito felt like he was already running out of things to dissect and feel sorry about. Like he already thought them all through. His own and Madara's faults as well – at least those he was aware of. Multiple times.
The silence is unbearable. It wears off his nerves in ways that nothing else could.
Without anything to stimulate the brain, besides his own self, Obito can not help but feel as if he was turning into a human shaped vegetable. Probably also looked the part, thanks to the thick layer of dust and dirt from laying on the ground.
Degradation in its purest.
Not even daydreaming about Kakashi helped, not anymore.
«He never came to visit me…not even once,» – he thought, yet again.
Perhaps Obito became so repulsive, that even his so-called comrade – dear friend – did not wish to check up on him. Though, he can't say he didn't expect this. Certainly deserved. Painful, nonetheless.
«Wonder if he hates me…»
And, while it wasn't all that out of character for Kakashi – this man knows how to hold a grudge – Obito simply wished for that to not to be true. Consciously he remains delusional – again. This, hope to see Kakashi again, was the only thing that kept him from completely losing his mind and he unapologetically clung to it like for his dear life.
Just like before – when he was still hiding in the shadows and behind a mask – Kakashi had become Obito's sole light. A star shining through despair of loneliness.
Even if Hatake himself seemed to forget about him.
In the world – the real world outside of Obito's bubble – the unending processions and prolonged trial of one Obito Uchiha have been ongoing for another year. It was three hundred and sixty-five days of degradation in the secluded cell, with nothing but his own mind to entertain.
«I hope they opt for the death penalty for me and do so soon,» – Obito thought, – «Though, why on earth is it even taking them so long to choose the method of execution?»
On a three hundred and sixty-six day Obito heard footsteps and he perks.
«Death is close,» – was Obito's first that comes to his mind.
And, honestly, he couldn't have been more far from the truth.
The truth is, Obito's trial came to an end, not so long before the new year began.
Obito was informed of this crucial piece of information by an unknown person, who's, apparently, assigned to be his guard. A ninja Obito suspiciously can not recognize. But something about him was weirdly familiar. The face of his is the most ordinary one, unremarkable features and eyes. Nothing about the man told him about this person or the clan he belongs to. And yet, he was familiar.
The subject can recognize another, when they see one, perhaps.
Ever since then this man – Yamato was the name – came in and out, facial expression getting more harder and rigid, as time went on. All he did, allegedly, was guarding Obito's door – why was it so necessary now, when it wasn't a thing the whole past year was beyond him – walk away for a couple of hours, or something, and come back.
He, on his end, observed.
Contrary to Sasuke, this Yamato guy was far more talkative. Not the blabber like Naruto, but he sure had a lot to say. Especially about Obito and how it would have been better for the Sixth Hokage to just get rid of him already.
That was when Obito found out that his friend became Hokage.
–What? Does it stings that he, the best of the best of Konoha, became a Hokage? – Yamato haunts, –How does it make you feel to be a scum in the trenches, while he lives your dream?
If Obito was still his past self, the young chunin with nothing to his name besides that dream, he probably would have screamed. Throw a tantrum in front of Rin and cry the heart out. But, even then, this wouldn't be just it. Under all the layers of jealousy, what he would actually feel was something far softer. He would have been so proud of Kakashi. Of course, not out loud and definitely not straight to Hatake’s face. God forbid to show this brat even a bit of recognition, he already had an ego the size of a moon, no need to pester it more.
But, Obito wasn't that kid anymore. Haven't been for ages. And for the first time in years he felt no need to hide what he actually feels.
–I'm happy for him, – Obito quietly admits, a somber smile tugging at his lips.
The generosity of this singular phrase took Yamato off guard.
Yamato stopped speaking ill of his name after.
This is also when things shifted, yet again.
Obito's trial ended and Yamato was the one to bring the news and the conditions that came with it. One of them left Obito dumbfounded. And he, well, reacted accordingly.
–I'm fucking what? With who?!
Obito was a mess upon hearing the news, to say the least.
But, can anyone blame him?
The thing that led this trial to an end was, to say the least, an unanticipated decision. Maybe that is the exact reason why no one could find a way to twist and decline it, like countless times before. There was just no room to do so. Not this time. After all, it was Kakashi of the Sharingan, now Sixth Hokage, who proposed himself as scapegoat. To be bound to a criminal, with a marriage, of all things. In no way anyone could have gained anything from this. Only lose. Goodbye respect, trust and overall reputation. Thrown into the bin with this absurd decision of his, all just to keep a disgusting criminal alive. There was no coming back from that.
What was the logistics behind this decision no one knew and Kakashi refused to share with a class his thoughts.
Either way, the world obeyed and Obito Uchiha was freed from his prison cell, walking down the aisle that same day.
The same day.
As someone who was prepared for the worst income, the death penalty, this was not on his list. More like, it had never even crossed the mind that Obito would actually be ever free again, especially not like this.
The guard guy, Yamato – or Tenzou – looked resigned, when telling Obito that he was the one assigned to accompany him towards the ceremony. His wedding.
And, just like this, they were on their way.
«On the way to my wedding,» – he thought, still caught on that part, unable to believe it was really going to happen.
There wasn't enough time for Obito to process his own feelings on the matter.
That is unfair.
Unfortunately for him though, the guard had a giant stick in the ass. He sure doesn't hate Obito with a flaming passion as it was before, but Tenzou didn't like him enough, still. So he still didn't explain anything properly.
The Hokage didn't grace the so-called “groom” – or was he considered a bride? – with his presence, either. He didn't do so in the past year of Obito's imprisonment, why start now, right?
Criminal, or not, Obito was left with little to no information, besides the bare fact of what is happening and instructions to follow for what will come next. Just that. That left him reasonably nervous, but not the good kind, not the one you would expect from someone about to marry. Which was strange on its own, because this is what he always wanted. A secret dream of his, to be with a certain Hatake forever and ever. Always was. A little guilty pleasure to think about in restriction of the cave and later of a prison cell confinement. But now it all will become more than just a wishful daydreaming. It will become true. And that is what scares him the most.
Obito will marry the one he secretly pinned for all these years, but at what cost? For all he knew, Kakashi was probably doing it to save him. This self-sacrificing idiot that he is could, in theory, go this far. The thought of it breaks something within Obito. Because, on one hand, Kakashi cares about him so much that he was ready to doom own love life, thanks to that marriage. But on the other hand, by doing this he was twisting a knife straight to Obito's heart. So, in the end, by choosing to save his life Kakashi instead gave him a silent and slow death of heartbreak.
«Kakashi, do you always have to make everything so complicated?»
Was there even a little shred of a chance that Kakashi, perhaps, wanted him? Or should Obito brace himself for the inevitable?
He sure hoped that there was a little chance for him. For them. It's just that things don't look so great right now.
Obito was going to marry Kakashi, who avoided him like a plague for all this time.
This is not a very promising beginning.
He tried to seek information from his guard, at least something, and failed. Tanzou stood his ground firmly and refused to elaborate on anything more than he already did. Instructed not to, probably. Each question was just brushed off with the man growing more and more irritated.
The start of the grand event was near, and they didn't even let Obito change into something more fitting for the occasion. Or at least switch to clothes that weren't literally prison robes. A bare minimum, and yet it was denied, too. This, right here, was the most screaming confirmation of Kakashi's intentions that should have crushed any hope he had left, but it did not.
What can Obito say, hope was the last thing he had left.
It didn't stop him from feeling like a filth when approaching such a well dressed and tidy groom. Kakashi looked stunning, even in the regular outfit of Konoha shinobi. Obito, on the other hand, looked like a corpse covered in dirt. To his credit, Kakashi didn't comment nor looked displeased or disgusted by his looks. Only obedient and distant. Not a good thing either, but it's something Obito can work with.
In all of this stress and inconvenience the only light of this situation was, yet again, Kakashi himself. Seeing him after such a long time filled Obito's heart with warmth. But also with pain. However hard he tried to cling to the idea that, perhaps, maybe this whole ordeal was not all that repulsive for Kakashi, he saw the truth in the details. The ceremony and how it was proceeding made it harder to remain hopeful. As it is, it felt more like a walk to the scaffold than a grand, one in lifetime, celebration of two hearts.
But, what does he even expect from the start of a, without any better name, arranged marriage?
Certainly not this.
The moment the ring touched his finger, Obito, not exactly saw – because he was looking at Kakashi, absorbing every change of his face – but felt when a seal crawled up his hand and settled right under his heart. Almost in the same placement, where Madara put his claim. It stung just for a second, before the world as he knew it went silent. Eerie quiet. For a moment everything that he could do is just rapidly blinking, attempting, and failing, to call for the safety of sharingan. All the blood slowly drained from his face, as seconds went on and it wouldn't answer.
Obito fixed gaze back at his friend again, now a husband, searching for answers in his features. Kakashi didn't look back – not at the altar and not on the way to the house, that meant for both newlyweds to live.
–What is going, – Obito tried to speak, and in the midsentence froze, the other words cought in his troat.
His chest tightened. Chakra, the sole source of energy, strength, the life itself, Obito couldn't feel it.
It was gone.
The understanding finally crawled its way to Obito's confused brain.
«So that's what it's all about,» – he thought, surprisingly calm.
More than anything, he felt cold. Truly alone.
It sting. Far more painfully, that the seal did, just a mere minutes ago.
But also, the feeling of this foreign numbness brought clarity.
This wedding is just a charade. A spectacle just so the prisoner's chakra was blocked away, when Obito least expected it. The seal was finalized with a touch, forever bound to Kakashi's will.
It's practical. The only right thing to do, if they were going through with keeping him alive. Suppress his chakra was logical.
But the way Kakashi went about this?
This was just cruel. Unnecessary.
Obito went through a lot of horrible things in his life, big half was his own doing even, but this kind of torture? This was too much, even for him.
He didn't cry, people around stopped the tears from falling. But not from forming.
With teary eyes he stood and couldn't help, but feel betrayed.
“It is just a precautionary measure," Kakashi tried to explain days later. But, even to Obito ears it was nothing more than an excuse.
They didn't need the whole marriage thing, to do it, they both know it.
He expected too much from this person. And, perhaps, Obito doesn't even deserve to have any dignity or grace of knowing anything beforehand. He understands that. Now Obito can clearly see who he dreamed to marry, at least.
His feelings, what he thinks and personhood doesn't matter to his husband.
Perhaps, it was actually for the better that Hatake averted his gaze away from him. That way he won't see traitorous moisture in Obito's eyes. And even better, than the audience is positioned to only see Obito's right side, the rigid scars won't show them much.
When no one was looking, Obito wiped the unshed tears away. Right as he did this, he felt the walls, those exact ones that Naruto broke down, began to build up again.
After the ceremony they didn't do anything, no festivities or banqueting. No cake. There was nothing to celebrate.
The vision of the future seeps deeper into Obito's head. With it he grew indifferent. Cold.
Congratulations afterwards were just as hollow as the Uchiha familial compound halls these days.
First to approach them was, surprisingly, Sasuke. He did not say anything, only nodded to Kakashi in acknowledgement, not even to his last remaining family member, however distant. Without another word Uchiha leaves, with a hesitant Sakura hip to hip. His departure felt somewhat personal. The last “fuck you” from Kakashi's caring student, Obito measured.
This blatant show of disrespect towards him should have brought up something out of Obito. Annoyance, perhaps.
But there was just a cold that he felt. The only thing that he has left.
Besides Sasuke and Sakura, there is also Naruto and Guy. Both were the last ones left and the only two who seemed to be at least partly happy for them. And there is also that guard guy. Suspiciously quiet. He noticed that every time Yamato wanted to say something, he refrained from doing so. Perhaps, it was nothing of importance and that's why Naruto and Guy completely ignored the man.
Naruto and Guy were actually congratulating them, both of them, with a laugh and a loud cheer.
Obito didn't even know what to respond, nor did he feel anything about the matter. “What are you laughing for?” he wanted to ask. “What are you congratulating me for?” Obito wished to question. And yet he didn't. He felt too hollow to even attempt to speak.
Was he even allowed to speak without consulting with Kakashi now? Obito genuinely didn't know and didn't try.
Ring felt just as cold as he felt from the inside.
Naruto, ever the sensitive one, eyed him as if feeling that something is off and, perhaps the first one after the whole year, he asked if he was alright. Obito didn't answer.
But it, the silence, was the answer of its own.
Between them talking – well, Naruto doing the talking – and Kakashi looking anywhere besides Obito, Might Guy had this bright – too bright to be true – smile. But even his usually energetic demeanor was strained. Restricted. If Obito had to guess, it was a worry.
–You better not even try to attempt anything! After all, we beat you once and we'll do it again, – he warned, – No wheelchair will stop me!
–Guy!
How he would even “attempt” anything with sealed chakra was all he wanted to ask, and yet Obito swallowed this comment, too.
With the last goodbyes – even these were hollow, somehow – they were gone.
It left Obito and Lord Sixth alone.
Well, almost, Yamato was there too, he was just keeping it so low, that it's easy to forget him sometimes.
Obito wondered if it was now when he got the awaited explanations. Perhaps, with – almost – no one around would Kakashi finally speak freely and. Maybe, it is now the time when he confessed that he married him not only for the sake of saving this forgotten by all gods rotten life.
He didn't do either. Instead, Kakashi turned around on his heels and said one and only thing:
–Follow me and do not wonder.
Emotionless and flat were those words.
This is not how a husband talks to his newlywed partner. Too cold and distant. Uncaring.
«This is my marriage? Is this what you trade my life for?»
Even in the middle of the battle, with a bloodied “x” on his chest or a desperate kunai pressed down Obito's throat, Kakashi was warmer and more willing to speak than the husband he got to marry.
Seeing him walk away like this shattered the last remains of hope that Obito had. Now he knows for sure that nothing between them will ever be. The love Obito secretly cradled all these years is unreciprocated. If it was possible for Obito's heart to be made out of glass, right at this moment it would begin to crack and break beyond reconstruction. Falling apart piece by piece until there was nothing left. Stomped on and destroyed when the reality met with expectations.
He was disillusioned, at last.
«Should have just let them execute me».
He said nothing and he didn't reach.
Obito followed Kakashi, more than aware of ANBU eyes all around the perimeter and Yamato, somber presence to the left. All of them were looking and waiting for a singular misstep from his side. There were so many of them, somehow he could tell.
The guard, unlike all his days standing near the door, was now eerily quiet. But, strangely so, his eyes were pressed not on Obito, but Kakashi. He didn't question it, either.
When they reached the new home, Obito gave it a sluggish examination.
He did not react to Kakashi speaking, when he was shoving everything around. Obito barely paid any attention to him at all, more concentrated on remembering placement of things.
It is better to distance himself as soon as possible. This way it would hurt less.
He took in the place.
There still were some boxes laying around, but not in a complete mess. Could have been worse, for sure. One peek showed him a bunch of books stocked in here. Knowing well what Kakashi prefers to read, Obito quickly lost any interest in them. The walls are colored in warm tones – white and orange with a neutral green, really? – and a homely smell in the air that somehow made him feel like an intruder.
Obito felt like he wasn't meant to be there.
But he is. Might as well get comfortable.
His eyes trailed further, memorizing placement of things. There is an old, but really comfy looking sofa with a coffee table, the leg is slightly crooked to the left. Living its last breath, it seems. Obito will try not to touch the latter much. The kitchen was to the left of the living room and bedrooms were on the second floor. Obito noticed that they have separate rooms and bathrooms, but did not comment on it.
What got his attention though, is that one of the rooms had a different lock system than another, far more complicated. The placement was different. On the outside of the door, not inside, like it usually is. It looks newly installed feature, too. Furniture wise it was the same as the other, just as blunt, with only one difference. The window was missing.
Kakashi didn't even need to point out which room was his.
But, overall, the place looks comfortable enough, Obito concluded.
The next thing he knew, Kakashi was standing beside him, opening his mouth and saying something. Obito probably zoned out hard at some point, because he didn't remember when Hatake even got this close. Or started to talk again. Perhaps Kakashi was telling him important things, but, honestly? He could care less, at this point. The only part he did listen to was about the door lock. Where he can and where not allowed to go Obito will find out later. The answer would be: nowhere out of the house.
–Nothing personal, – Kakashi said, at last, hands already half way to the door knob.
–Whatever you say, husband, – Obito answered, voice tired and quiet.
Perhaps, too tired, because he didn't even register just what he called Kakashi.
But Kakashi? He heard him clearly, despite the quiet tone. How naturally the word slipped from his tongue. That made Kakashi freeze, with a hand in mod air, reaching but not exactly touching the door knob. He looked so awkward like this. The moment stretches for probably half of a minute, of him standing there, like an idiot, and just gawking at Obito.
Obito wasn't going to say anything more, so he waited for Kakashi to snap out of it and either speak up or go away.
Ever the stick in the butt, Kakashi, perhaps unable to find any right words, opt on retrieving. The door lock closed with a click, locking Obito for a night.
Only when he heard Kakashi's steps departure, only then the mysterious moisture in his eyes reappeared, yet it never shed. This time, because he refused to.
Obito sat down on a bed, the mattress felt so unfairly soft under the palms. Laying down he registered how unnecessary nice it was. Perhaps, this is one of the most comfortable places to sleep he had in the last 10 years. And yet Obito didn't sleep that night. He kept on thinking, trying to understand Kakashi's point of view.
Did he really have to do it the way he did?
Was there really no other way?
The better question is why did Obito even hope for Kakashi to love him. For this marriage to be anything different than Kakashi just doing anything to save him, even if it means destroying own future.
«It's kind of sad,» – Obito thought, with a growing pity that layered over the heartache.
Kakashi has been a weapon his whole life, serving a village with everything that he had and now, in the times of true peace, he can't even live for himself. Not freely. This time because of Obito.
The one he loves would forever be unhappy, and it is all thanks to Obito.
«I exist only to hurt you, don't I?»
Hours later, much after the sunrise, he was awake still when the lock clicked open.