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Rin has never been more thankful for Anko Mitarashi in her life.
Well, scratch that. She’s never really been thankful for Anko ever because they’ve never gotten along until very, very recently. Anko often came by the hospital, always during Rin’s volunteer shifts, borrowing supplies for Orochimaru when Rin needed them most. Last week, it was the West wing’s antiseptic supply. This week, it was a medical journal on poisons— and Rin was using that, thank you very much, because a genin from the Aburame clan decided to test out a jutsu on his teammate without an antidote on his person. While he wasn’t in critical condition anymore, knowledge of poisons and their effects are critical for a medic to have. If Anko wanted the book that badly, she should have put a hold on it at the medical library and waited her turn to check it out. Rin told her that much, and Anko didn’t take too kindly to it.
Anko is stubborn, cocky, and rude, just like someone else she knows. However, she’s resourceful, and that’s what Rin is thankful for. Anko struck a deal that day— a trade-off of sorts. “You let me have first dibs on the book,” she said, “And I’ll hook you up with something to make it worth your while. Trust me. If it’s poisons you wanna dabble in, this’ll come in handy one day.”
Kakashi was there when Anko held up her end of the bargain, handing over a purple vial, a set of senbon needles, and a list of instructions on how to use them. Rin plans on telling Obito about it later today when they start working on their team formations. For now, she uses the alone time she has to individually dip each needle in the vial before setting them down in the center of her storage scroll (thank you, Kushina, for teaching her the ropes in the art of sealing).
She takes her time with it, careful to not allow the poison to touch her skin. It only takes effect if it enters the bloodstream, but she isn’t willing to take any risks. It’s the exact reason why she showed up to the training grounds as early as she did today, just to make sure there wouldn’t be anyone else here to distract her. She can’t afford to mess this up, especially before seeing what the poison does in action.
Knowing her team, there won’t be anyone here for a while. Kakashi always comes right on time and Obito will be late as always, so she isn’t worried about getting interrupted. Right now it’s just her, her new tools, the quiet nature of the clearing, and that’s enough to put her mind at ease.
…Maybe she should find a test subject, though. Maybe Obito will volunteer himself.
Rin shorts out a laugh and considers asking him, but ultimately decides against it. Her dear friend may be a bit of an airhead sometimes, but he isn’t that stupid.
Somewhere in the Uchiha district, Obito sneezes. His first thought is, was somebody thinking about me?
Usually, Kakashi rolls his eyes at Obito’s superstitious anxieties, which is ridiculous because he’s seen first-hand that luck is never on Obito’s side. Every day it’s something different— a missed alarm, a black cat on his path, the thought of getting bad karma for refusing to help a granny with her groceries.
Today is different. Obito makes it outside of the district with ease, taking pride in the fact that he woke up before his alarm today. Heh. That’ll show Kakashi. Obito can’t wait to see the shock on his face when he shows up to the training grounds before him, for once. Maybe it’ll be enough to finally pull that stick out of his ass and then they can go back to what they used to be.
They were friends… once, him and Kakashi. Back in the academy, Kakashi didn’t roll his eyes, scold him, or look at him with disappointment and then, something else. He was friendly back then, nothing like the brat he is now. Once upon a time, Kakashi was a good listener. He was fun to hang out with and was someone Obito looked forward to seeing every day. Those days feel like forever ago, lost somewhere in the wind.
It’s not that he doesn’t look forward to seeing Kakashi anymore. He’s a good teammate, and if Obito’s being honest with himself, his shinobi career wouldn’t be where it is without him by his side. It’s just that the thought of Kakashi is… well, confusing, as of right now. He finds himself staring at Kakashi for longer than he should sometimes, even during times when he shouldn’t. He thinks about times when the mask is off, or when it’s Obito’s turn to keep watch while the rest of his team is sleeping. A memory of their last overnight mission flashes through his mind, and then comes the traitorous thought of how is someone like Kakashi that pretty—
Obito shakes his head in an effort to shake the thought away. It’s Kakashi for fuck’s sake, and if he spends any more time dwelling on this, he might as well go insane while he’s at it. Best to shove it in the “bad thoughts” corner of his mind and never acknowledge it again for as long as he lives, like a normal person would.
(He knows it’ll come up again when he’s distracted or bored or just can’t seem to focus. Rin calls it Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, whatever that means.)
He’s surprised to find Rin already there when he arrives at the training grounds. Has she always shown up to things this early? Obito doesn’t think so, but okay then. At least he’ll have someone to kill time with before their training session officially begins. That someone being Rin makes it that much better.
Her back is facing him and she’s kneeled over a sealing scroll, one that he recognizes as one of Kushina’s. She doesn’t hear him coming, and he figures it won’t hurt anyone to break the silence for them. It’s just him, after all. She won’t mind.
“Oi!” he calls out, and Rin jolts, letting out a high-pitched squeal of surprise before swinging her hand. Obito feels it first: the searing, white-hot pain going straight through his left bicep. “Ow, what the hell was that for— Oh, shit.”
When he looks down, he nearly passes out. Yep, that’s a senbon needle piercing straight through the sleeve of his jacket and into his skin. Blood mixes with something purple and drips from the metal tip, and hey— is it normal to lose some of the feeling in one of your limbs after being hit with one of these?
“Obito? What are you doing here?” Rin’s voice is shrill with panic and she jumps up to her feet, leaving her scroll behind to move toward Obito’s side of the clearing.
“I’m here to train, obviously,” Obito says, feeling nauseous as he points to the senbon lodged into his arm. “And what is this? Were you trying to kill me or something?”
“Of course not, but I could have seriously hurt you and—” her face falls with a quick realization. “Oh, fuck.”
Obito freezes at her darkening expression. “What. What is it?”
"Obito..." She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and exhales loudly through her nose. “That senbon needle was poisoned."
“What?”
“I’m sorry!”
“You poisoned me?”
“I didn’t mean to, you startled me!”
“So your first instinct was to poison me?”
“For all I knew, you could have been anybody! And hey— I didn’t expect you to show up this early! You’re always late!”
“Well, not today!”
“How was I supposed to know that?”
“You weren’t! It was gonna be like, a pleasant surprise or something— you know what? Fine.” Obito takes a deep breath in an attempt to collect himself and the last remaining whisps of his sanity. It’s okay. This is fine. They can fix this. “You win. Just… can you take this out of my arm and gimme the antidote so we can move on from this, please?"
Rin rubs the back of her neck. “Aha, funny story, actually…”
When she breaks the news that there is no antidote, Obito nearly has a panic attack for the second time today. He’s going to die. He’s going to die at the hands of his best friend and possibly in front of Kakashi in the worst, most embarrassing way possible. He says that much, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he tries to fight them from spilling over, babbling his grievances until Rin lightly smacks the back of his head.
“You’re not going to die. This blend of poison is non-lethal,” Rin says, exasperated, and oh, thank the Sage. Obito lets out a sigh of relief. “Now sit down so I can heal this, would you?”
They sit at the edge of the clearing where Rin’s supplies lay scattered. No, Obito does not scream when Rin takes it upon herself to carefully pull the senbon from his arm. Yes, he cries because it hurts like a bitch. Thankfully, Rin doesn’t say anything about it. Obito removes his jacket and Rin gets to work, putting her medical expertise to good use.
It’s a silent ordeal for the most part. Obito waits patiently, pulling up his goggles to wipe his eyes with the back of his free hand. Kakashi should be here any minute and the last thing he needs is for him to call him a crybaby and an idiot, even though it wasn’t even his fault. The thought has him rolling his eyes.
So much for being early. He swears to the Sage above he’ll never do that again.
It doesn’t take long for him to ask what the point of a poison is if it’s non-lethal.
“It was manufactured during the Second Shinobi War to mentally incapacitate prisoners of war and gather information from them,” Rin recites, hovering her hands over the wound. Green chakra knits his muscles and nerves back together and as soon as he knows it, he’s as good as new.
“But we don’t work in intelligence, so why would you need that?”
“Mostly for evasion,” Rin shrugs as Obito rolls down his sleeve. “But who’s to say we can’t dabble in that line of work, either? You never know what could happen during a mission."
Obito rubs his arm, considering her words. With something like that, their opponents wouldn’t be able to fight for very long if their team were to get ambushed, and it would be easy to track down the enemy shinobi if, say, someone got captured. And as their medic, it just makes sense for Rin to have it as an extra line of defense. There’s never been such a thing as being too prepared.
“I was going to test it out during our next mission, but…” Rin continues with a laugh so gentle that Obito doesn’t expect what’s coming next. “I think you might have to do, instead.”
Oh, fuck no. “Oh fuck no.”
“Oh, fuck yes." She puts a sympathetic hand on his shoulder and speaks to him seriously. “I’m sorry, Obito, but you should get comfortable while you can. Things are about to get really weird.”
Usually, Rin’s smiles are so soft and sweet, a sure comfort from any emotional distress Obito might face at any moment, at any time. That’s what makes the one she wears right now so jarring. It’s curious; her eyes are glinting with mischief, and it’s right there that Obito remembers that sometimes, Rin is fucking crazy. He can’t believe he had the nerve to forget that in the midst of dealing with his unrequited crush on her. Granny did always say that when you’re wearing rose-tinted glasses, red flags are just flags.
“Do I have to be your lab rat?”
“As my best friend, you’re legally obligated to, and not to mention… It's too late. Think you can wait it out here with me for a few hours? I’ll buy you dango when the effects wear off.”
“...I guess.” Fuck his life. He can’t believe it’s come to this. But at least this is happening with Rin and not someone he suspects to be an actual mad scientist like, say, Orochimaru or Anko. It could be so much worse. “You promise I’ll be fine after?”
“Pinkie swear,” Rin holds out her pinkie, and Obito resigns himself to his fate. He locks his own finger in with hers and nods, mentally taking note of how soft her skin is.
When she lets go and starts explaining the possible side-effects to him, Obito leans back and puts all his weight against the nearest tree trunk. He’s going to be here for a while, from the sound of it. He might as well get comfortable, so he crosses his arms and tilts his head back. He tries to drown out Rin's descriptions of hallucinations and euphoria. If he thinks too hard on them, he might freak out all over again.
At least it’s nice outside. A soft breeze drifts through the training grounds, rustling through the trees and carding through his hair. He sits back, watching the leaves sway, and enjoys the sunlight speckling through the canopy. Does the nature of his village always buzz with so much life and light? When every single day is spent in a frantic rush to get to where he needs, he supposes he never had time to sit back and admire it.
Man, the sun feels good on his face. He wishes he could melt into the grass and stay like this forever. Kakashi would probably enjoy this, if he ever allowed himself to relax. Wasn’t he supposed to come to this training session?
Does Obito want Kakashi to see him like this? Sage, he’s gonna be so pissed. They’re set to go on a mission to some bridge in Kusagakure just a few days from now and they’re running short on time to prepare. Obito can already see it now. Kakashi is definitely gonna yell at him, maybe throw an insult or two in there to salt the wound. And Obito? Obito’s head is buzzing too hard to prepare a list of comebacks to throw at him. He’s so screwed.
Fuck, all he ever wanted was for Kakashi to acknowledge him, to smile at him, to see him. Until now, he only ever wanted that from Rin. Is it possible to want something like that from two people at once?
Wait, what is he doing here again?
Oh, right. Rin did something to him. He can’t remember what it was, but whatever it is, he guesses he can trust her with it since she’s still sitting right next to him, watching like a hawk. She’s a medic, and she did pinkie swear everything would be fine.
Heh. Pinkie. What a weird word.
…Wait.
What is he doing here again?
Man, Rin is so pretty. Hey— has the grass always been this wavy? And why is he tapping his foot so much?
Who is that sight for sore eyes coming over from the distance?
When Kakashi reaches the edge of the clearing, he has some questions. The first one being as to why Obito is slumped against a tree, eyes half-lidded and looking completely out of it.
“Yoooooo,” Obito slurs, his dopey smile growing wider. His cheeks are flushed in a way Kakashi has only seen when he gets flustered around Rin, and he tries to swallow down his annoyance at the thought.
“What’s wrong with him?” he asks Rin in lieu of a greeting.
“Nothing’s wrong. He’s fine.” Her voice is clipped, anxiety practically oozing out of her pores as she flashes a nervous smile.
Kakashi isn’t an idiot. He levels her with a look that says, I don’t believe you. When her nervous smile twitches, he rolls his eyes and kneels down to face Obito at eye level. The dumbass is unfocused, bleary gaze shifting between Kakashi and Rin, and barely registers when Kakashi waves a hand in front of his face.
"Yo Rin, who's this babe you're with?" Obito asks, and Kakashi’s jaw falls open, slightly horrified, when his idiot of a teammate has the nerve to wink.
What. The. Hell.
Kakashi looks up to Rin for help, but she just sighs like she’s heard this all before. "That's Kakashi. You've known him for years."
"Kakashi, eh? I remember now. Have you always been that… swirly?"
“What.”
“You’re like… wow. Did you do something different with your hair today?”
Kakashi is extremely concerned now. “Rin, what’s going on? Why is he acting dumber than usual?”
“M’not dumb,” Obito groans. “Just attention delicate… or whatever it is. Wish you weren’t so mean to me.”
He says it with a sadness Kakashi has never heard from him before, reaching out in Kakashi’s direction and brushing his rough fingers against the back of his hand. Kakashi stares and lets it happen, unsure of what else to do.
“Should we take him to the hospital?”
“No!” Rin says quickly, and against the tree trunk, Obito shakes his head in agreement.
“No hospital. Bad Bakashi.” Obito’s hand wraps around Kakashi’s and he has half a mind to wrench away from the touch, but he’ll admit the dumb, dazed look on Obito’s face is kind of funny, so he stays. That is until Obito decides to spew word vomit again, “So soft. C’mere. Wanna look at you.”
“What the— why?” This time he does try to rip his hand away, but for someone who seems to be under the influence of something, Obito’s grip is surprisingly strong. He turns to Rin again. “Okay, Rin, I’m going to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me, so help the Sage or else I’m going to go and tell Minato-sensei about this. What the hell did you do to him?”
“I didn’t do anything! It just… it just sort of happened.”
“What ‘just sort of happened?’”
The shame is clear on his teammate’s face as she puts her hands behind her back and stares down at the spot where her sandal kicks against the ground.
“...So you remember that weapons kit Anko gave me the other day?”
“The hallucinogenic senbon? Yeah, I was there, I— No.” Kakashi’s eyes are blown wide. He shakes his head slowly. “You didn’t.”
Rin’s shoulders slump. “I did.”
“Why?” is all Kakashi asks, because it’s all he can do.
Rin insists the whole ordeal was an accident, but Kakashi doesn’t afford her the luxury of sympathy. Instead, he slaps a hand over his face and drags it down slowly. Great. Fantastic. Obito is tripping balls and it’s all because of his uncharacteristically punctual timing today. As much as Kakashi wants to say he can’t believe this happened, he’s not surprised in the slightest. This would happen to his team just days before their biggest mission ever.
Why Rin hasn’t simply taken Obito home, Kakashi has no idea. He doubts he ever will. There’s a dark side to her that he’s only seen bits and pieces of, and this feels like one of those moments. That thought is confirmed when she sits criss-cross beside Obito, taking a notepad and pen out of her weapons pouch before asking him how he’s feeling. He replies something that vaguely sounds like “I like dango” and then hums the lyrics to some song Kakashi recognizes as something his granny played on the radio when they were kids. Rin nods along and jots down notes like Obito is less of a person and more like a specimen she needs to dissect and study.
He pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and middle finger. They’re really doing this, aren’t they?
“How long did Anko say this was supposed to go on for?” he asks, because he would like to know how long he needs to stay here before he actually goes to tell Minato. Rin will be disappointed and Obito will probably call him a snitch when he recovers, but that’s fine with Kakashi. The mission comes first and Obito is their tank, so Kakashi needs him alive and well to complete it.
It’s for the mission. Any other feelings that come with it are not a priority because Kakashi is a shinobi. Business as usual. Follow the rules.
“About two hours,” Rin replies.
Kakashi falls back on his ass and lets out a long, heavy sigh. “Okay. How long ago was he hit?”
“Erm, fifteen minutes ago?”
Damn it.
Between them, Obito mutters something unintelligible. Rin nods and smiles at him like she understands. “We’ll get dango later, Obito. I promise.”
Kakashi raises a curious eyebrow at her. “You actually understood that?”
“No,” Rin giggles.
“I can’t believe you’ve done this.” Kakashi really can’t. This is a new low.
“Yeah, sorry, but… I mean, I was looking for a test subject. I guess I just got lucky?” She reaches out to card a hand through Obito’s cropped hair and he nuzzles into it, muttering something about sunshine with an all-too-wide smile.
Kakashi watches them. He knows better than to think luck has anything to do with it. Some things in the universe are just set in stone, like the way that the sky is vast and wide, and the way that Obito is head over heels in love with someone else.
His stomach twists.
“What if the Sage was an alien?” Obito slurs after a beat of silence passes.
Kakashi already regrets everything. “There’s no such thing as aliens.”
“What about moon people?”
“No. Do you ever stop talking?”
“So mean,” Obito pouts. “Can’tcha just be nice to me?”
“I am nice to you.”
“Nu-uh.” He turns to Rin. “What time is it?”
“It’s nine, Obito,” she laughs, feather-light.
“Oh, riiiight. Isn’t Bakashi supposed to be here?” Kakashi’s eye twitches at the stupid nickname.
“I’m right here, you idiot.” Obito’s big hand is still wrapped around Kakashi’s, so he squeezes it to turn Obito’s attention back to him. Obito looks at him, that idiotic smile of his softening into something else, and he hates the way his face feels hot when Obito brushes a thumb over his knuckles.
“Pretty,” Obito whispers, and Kakashi’s heart stops in his chest. Pretty? Was… was Obito talking to him? There’s no way. Absolutely no way he was, right? “Heyyy, Kakashi. Did you do something different with your—”
“Can we at least gag him or something?” Kakashi turns to Rin, pleading, but she’s gaping like a fish. She slaps a hand over her mouth and looks between them, and then she giggles like she’s got Kakashi all figured out.
“No. I think not.”
“Why?”
There is a smug lilt to her tone when Rin says, “Come on. You know why.”
“I don’t—”
“I don’t whine,” Obito whines in a clear contradiction of himself. He finally lets go of Kakashi’s hand right before rolling over to shift his position, resting his head directly on Kakashi’s lap and nuzzling into his thigh. “Mmm. I like dango.”
“Shut up, Obito.” If Kakashi’s face wasn’t red with embarrassment before, it certainly is now. Oh, Obito is so dead when he wakes up. He’s going to kill him. He tells Rin that much, and she rolls her eyes in response.
“You won’t,” she and Obito say simultaneously.
They’re right.
He won’t.
When Obito somewhat recovers from his hallucinogenic spiel, Kakashi and Rin take the responsibility of dragging him back to his grandmother’s house, bowing apologetically before dropping him off with his favorite dango order and a large bottle of water. Days later, Kakashi is promoted to Jonin. They all go on their first S-rank mission as a team, and Rin gets captured by an Iwa-nin. The mission comes first, Kakashi argues, and it’s their first real fight. He doesn’t expect Obito to bring up his father, though.
Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse.
Kakashi falls hard. He admitted it to himself long ago, back when he realized that Obito and his father shared the same values. Hearing it out loud solidifies it. Hearing it out loud makes him want to act on it— these stupid feelings, this stupid crush on the most stupid person he knows.
In the end of it all, the shinobi team who kidnapped Rin don’t make it far. They’re slumped down and muttering nonsense by the time Obito and Kakashi abandon the mission to rescue her, finding them near a checkpoint somewhere near the bridge. She grins proudly at Obito and says “I told you so” before flashing one of her poisoned senbon needles between her middle and index fingers, winking.
That gentle demeanor of hers is all a facade. Kakashi knows better than to believe it for even a second.
Obito is so relieved to see her alive and well. Kakashi stands back and stares down at a particularly green piece of bamboo as Obito runs over to hug her, telling her that. All Rin does is hug him back and say, “I was doing just fine. I’m glad to see you and Kakashi getting along now.”
“We weren’t,” they both tell her.
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. Alive and well and nothing like something that could come out of Kakashi’s worst nightmares. “Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourselves that.”
When she pulls Kakashi in for a group hug, he embraces the warmth of her hand on his waist and Obito’s strong arm around him. He sighs into it and wishes it could last forever, wrapping his arms around both of them.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Obito says to Rin, but he’s smiling into Kakashi’s hair. He holds him tightly and whispers “thank you,” something that Kakashi knows is just for him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Kakashi grips onto the back of Obito’s jacket hard, like he’ll disappear if he isn’t holding onto him. He uses it as his leverage, clings to it, savors it. Sage fucking damn it. He likes this idiot so much that it physically hurts him. Kakashi likes him, he really does, and maybe after this war is over, Kakashi can finally tell him that.
Obito breaks the hug with a wide, dumb smile. It’s nothing like the one he wore when Rin accidentally poisoned him. This one is determined, bright and ready, warm in a way that could only be compared to the sunlight of Kakashi’s home, his village, his everything.
Everything, like his comrades are.
“Screw this. Screw Iwa. Let’s go destroy that stupid bridge,” Obito says, falling back into position. He takes two steps back and nods, and Kakashi understands. Kakashi nods back at him before leading his team into the forest, all of them weaving through the massive bamboo and mushrooms and trees. All of them determined to make it out of this war alive.
Now, he’s speaking Kakashi’s language.