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"This is stupid." Obito grumbled, loose gravel and brittle grass crunching under his feet as he left the relative safety of the parking lot behind. Gnats swarmed in the humid air, drawn to the harsh light of his phone's flashlight as it illuminated the uneven trail ahead. The tiny creatures buzzed past his ears as they darted around, more than a few of them swerving dangerously close to his eyes. Obito swatted them away and wished he was anywhere but here.
"You're not scared are you?" Rin teased, nudging him playfully in the side. Unlike Obito, she was practically vibrating with gleeful anticipation, skipping along the root strewn forest path like a kid on her way to candy store.
"No," Obito shot back, slapping at his bare arm to dislodge a mosquito that mistook him for a meal. "I just think this is a really stupid idea."
"He's just upset Kakashi isn't here to take care of him when he starts screaming like a baby." Genma snickered from Rin's other side, his ever present toothpick clenched tightly between his molars.
Obito flashed him his middle finger, scowling. "Remind me again Shiranui, why was it you begged us to let Raido tag along?"
A faint blush, barely visible in the darkness, spread across Genma's cheeks as he tisked. "Because I'm a good friend and didn't want him to feel left out."
"Trust me, I would have been fine with it." Raido sighed dramatically, slapping at the insects that swarmed around his exposed calf. "Fucking bugs are gonna eat me alive."
Rin, undeterred by the grumbling of her friends, wrapped her hand around Obito's sweaty palm. "Come on you big babies." she grinned as she pulled him forward towards the looming treeline. "It'll be fun, you'll see."
Obito had his doubts.
The pale orange light from the parking lot was swallowed up by the foliage as soon as their group entered the forest. Dense tree branches blotted out the sky, hiding the moon from view and casting them into nearly complete darkness, leaving only the harsh light of their cellphones to guide the way. Unseen critters chittered and cawed as they scurried about in the underbrush, their noises creating an eerie symphony that set Obito's teeth on edge.
He shivered, despite the sticky heat that surrounded them. An overwhelming sense of wrongness settled heavily on his shoulders with each step he took into the forest's maw. His back prickled as his eyes swept the area, expecting to see glowing eyes peering back at him from the inky darkness but there was nothing there. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.
He squeezed Rin's hand tightly, pulling her close.
According to local legend, the woods on the southern edge of town were haunted, home to yokai and other supernatural beasts that liked to prey on the foolish humans that wandered into their domain. Every year, around this time, the daring - or the stupid - would try their luck to see how far they could make it before they left screaming for the hills.
Those who had made it more than a few steps claimed there was a cabin, nestled deep in the woods. No one knew who the cabin belonged to but it was said to have been taken over by a malevolent spirit, one with razor sharp claws and silver eyes. It had become sort of a right of passage in a way, to make it to the cabin and back without falling prey to the forest spirit. Many had tried over the years and just as many had failed.
Rin was certain that this year, they would make it.
Obito really wished he had bailed when he had the chance.
"Don't you think we're a little too old for this?" Raido asked nervously, his flashlight swinging nervously towards a nearby bush as it rustled dangerously.
"Where is your sense of adventure?" Rin asked, looking completely unbothered by the sheer eeriness that surrounded their little group. "Besides! The new semester starts soon and Obito and I will be busy with our clinicals. This is our last chance to hang out together!"
"And we couldn't have just, I don't know, found a scary movie on Netflix or something?"
Rin pouted, her brow creasing with disappointment. "Where's the fun in that?"
"I'm struggling to find the fun in this." Genma said. "No offense Rin but there is something wrong with this place."
"I know!" she grinned. "Isn't it great?"
Not for the first time, Obito wondered if there was something wrong with his best friend.
"It's a shame Kakashi couldn't make it though." she sighed a bit wistfully. "He would have loved it."
"Yeah, because Kakashi is a freak." Raido said. "Sorry Obito."
Obito grunted in response. There was no point in denying it. He was well aware that his boyfriend was somewhat…odd.
Notoriously reclusive, mildly possessive, and straight up rude at the best of times, Kakashi was by definition, a bit strange. He was prickly snob who had no difficultly living up to his reputation around campus as a fidged bitch. But damn if wasn't an insanely good kisser or the hottest fucking person Obito had ever laid eyes on.
Kakashi was, in reality, not actually a bad person. He was just a little rough around the edges and once you got to know him, a really sweet and caring guy who was extremely loyal to those he considered his friends. There was a reason Obito had been with him since high school and it wasn't just for his stupidly handsome face.
Still, Obito was going to make him pay for leaving him to face Rin's twisted sense of fun all by himself.
They couldn't have been walking more than twenty minutes when they came across a break in the trees. Moonlight bathed the small clearing with bright, unimpeded light and in the center, sat a cabin. It looked more like a shack, if Obito was being honest, slightly dilapidated and extremely off putting in the silvery glow of the moon.
The front porch was littered with rotten firewood and more than one window was boarded up, broken glass still clinging to the frame. Moss grew on the sunken roof, plants sprouting from the clogged gutters, and grasping weeds crawled up the sides, like nature itself was reaching up to pull the structure down into the ground.
Obito shuttered.
"You think this is place? Rin breathed, still lingering at the treeline. She was leaning forward, like she wanted to move but couldn't get her feet to listen.
"It's gotta be." Genma responded, gnashing at his toothpick, his face pale in the moonlight.
"Wow we found it and we all survived!" Obito said with an edge of hysteria creeping into his voice, taking a step back. His instincts were screaming at him to flee. They weren't safe here. "Great job everyone! Let's go back now!"
There was something wrong with the cabin that went beyond its decrepit state. Something sinister that made his heart leap in his chest. He took another step back, his pride be damned. He was no match for whatever evil lurked here.
"I think we should go inside!" Rin said suddenly, a determined look falling across her features. "We came all the way out here after all."
"Go inside? Are you fucking insane? We should get the hell out of here!" Obito reached to grab her and pull her back into the safety of the trees but she darted out of grasp with a mischievous smile.
Raido nodded his head in agreement, shifting nervously on his feet. "Not to mention, you'd technically be trespassing."
"Oh come on, there is no way anyone lives here!" She jumped up onto the porch to make her point, her hiking boots thudding loudly on the wooden surface. "Aren't you just a tinsey bit curious to see what's inside?"
"No!" the three of them shouted in unison. The grin that fell over Rin's face was nearly as haunting as the cabin, a rictus of a smile that looked out of place on her sweet face. Slowly she reached for the doorknob. Obito's heart leapt from his chest and lodging itself somewhere in his throat. Rusted hinges screamed in protest as she threw open the door, the ear shattering sound echoing loudly in the quiet of the clearing. Rin gave them a mocking wave before she vanished into the darkness beyond the threshold.
"Fuck this, I'm out." Genma said, grabbing hold of Raido's wrist and pulling him back towards the trail, running away like the coward he was. "You and Rin have fun. I'll be sure to say nice things about you both at your funerals."
"Fuck you Shiranui," Obito hissed at their retreating backs. "You rat bastard!"
"It was nice knowing you Uchiha!" Raido called back before the pair vanished from view, the darkness of the forest stealing them away.
"Fuck!" he pulled at his hair. His body was telling him to run, to flee from the dangers that lurked in the clearing. But he couldn't leave Rin behind, no matter how much she deserved it. "Fuck."
Stairs creaked under his footsteps as he made his way up to the front porch, blood pounding furiously in his ears. "Rin!" he called softly, inching his way into the structure. "C'mon, we shouldn't be here."
It was impossibly dark within the cabin, so dark that no matter how many times Obito blinked his eyes, he couldn't get them to adjust. He fumbled for his phone with shaking hands, not remembering when he had turned the flashlight off. His thumb mashed against the flat surface of the device to bring up the home screen but the display remained dark and unresponsive.
A chill ran down his spine. There was no way it could be dead already. He had just charged it on the way over. It was nearly impossible for the battery to drain that quickly. Impossible.
"Rin!" he tried again in a slightly louder whisper. "Seriously, let's get out of here."
Obito could hear Rin stumbling around blindly, the light from her phone also strangely missing. He followed the sound of her body knocking against furniture to locate her, fully prepared to drag her out of the cabin kicking and screaming if he had too. When he bumping into something soft and fleshy, he clamped his hand down hard and pulled.
"Ow! Obito be careful!" She hissed through clenched teeth. "Stop being such a baby!"
Obito dug his fingers in deeper. "Rin." he said lowly, having reached the end of his patience. "It's time to go."
"You're no fun."
"Never claimed to be." he bit back as he tugged on her arm. Thankfully, she followed along as he blindly made his way back to the door, the muted beams of moonlight growing closer with each unsteady step. Just as they were about to make it out Rin stopped suddenly, making Obito stumble.
"What the hell Rin?"
"Shhh." she whispered, slapping a hand over his mouth. "Listen. Do you hear that?"
Obito stilled, straining his ears. At first the only thing he could make out was the sound of his own heartbeat and rapid breathing but then, rising over his thundering pulse, he heard it. A low continuous rumble that made his hair stand on end.
"What the fuck is that?" he breathed, his voice still muffled by Rin's hand. The sound seemed to grow louder in response, like a snarl ripped from the throat of a rabid wolf. A strange clicking noise followed it, sharp nails scraping across the floorboards as something moved closer to them in the darkness.
"O-o-okay maybe we should go now." Rin whimpered, her voice shaking slightly. She sounded terrified.
"Oh you think!?" Obito couldn't help but snap back at her. This whole fucking thing was her idea and now they were going to die. Some wild fucking yokai was going to eat them for dinner and then they would be dead. Gone. Over. Nothing left but bones.
He never got to say goodbye to Kakashi.
Suddenly, the creature's growling sounded just to their right and far, far too close for comfort. Heat from the monster's breath ghosted over their skin, razor sharp teeth glinting in the faintest trace of moonlight that seeped in from the open door, dripping with saliva. Silver eyes bore into them above a snarling maw.
Rin screamed.
She ripped herself free from Obito's grip and made for the open door without looking back. Her elbow collided painfully with his gut in her mad dash to escape, causing him to trip over his feet. He let out a strangled yelp as he fell, his head crashing into something on his way down with a sickening crack.
The sounds of Rin's screaming grew distant as unconsciousness washed over him, a pair of silver eyes the following him into the darkness.
When Obito came too, the cabin was bathed in light. A single desk lamp was glowing warmly from an end table that sat between two overstuffed arm chairs. Obito blinked in confusion.
Then it hit him.
The yokai, the one with the teeth. The one who was about to rip him apart. Obito was not safe.
Adrenaline shot through him, spurring him to his feet. He needed to get out of here, he needed to find Rin and possibly burn the entire forest to the ground. But before he could so much as twitch, a pair of strong arms pushed him back down onto the soft surface he was laying on.
"Easy there." an achingly familiar voice said softly. "You hit your head pretty hard."
Obito's eyes shot up to the figure kneeling next to him, his jaw falling open.
"Kakashi?" he breathed.
His boyfriend smiled, his eyes creasing into cute little half moons. "Welcome back to the land of the living." he said.
"What are you doing here? Where the fuck are we? Where's the fucking yokai?" His questions fell from his mouth one after another, hardly giving himself time to breathe. The lingering taste of danger was sour on his tongue, adrenaline still coursing through his veins.
But Kakashi, for some unknown reason looked completely at ease in his ratty t-shirt and gym shorts that were, frankly, too short to be legal. His hand fell onto Obito's forehead, cool against his heated skin. It rested there for a minute before his fingers began to card delicately through his hair. "I think you might have a concussion." he mumbled to himself, grey eyes half lidded with sleep.
"What the fuck is going on Kakashi?"
"Maa, that's a good question. I was kinda hoping you'd tell me why you though it was a good idea to break into my cabin in the middle of the night?"
"Your cabin?" Obito pushed himself up on his elbows, eyes darting around the room as he took in his surroundings.
He was stretched out on a very comfortable sofa with a thick woolen blanket draped over his knees despite the summer heat. There was a stone fireplace that sat cold and empty against the right wall and a small kitchenette to his left. It wasn't very big, but it was surprisingly well kept and cozy, a far cry from the dilapidated state that befell the exterior. A single door sat next the couch Kakashi must have moved him to, cracked open just enough for him to make out the shape of a bed.
"My family's cabin, yeah." Kakashi responded, still petting his head in long, soothing strokes.
"Wait, wait, wait." Obito said, slapping his hand away. "You said you couldn't hang out with us tonight because you had plans."
"I did." Kakashi nodded. "I do."
"Out here?"
"Yes."
Obito gaped at him for a second before smacking him on the back of his head. "What the fuck Kakashi?"
"Maa, I like to spend a few nights here every once and a while." he winced, having the audacity to look sheepish. "Usually to keep people from trying to break in. I honestly didn't think I'd be trying to keep you out."
"It was Rin's idea." Obito would not take the blame for Rin's crimes. If Kakashi wanted to gripe at someone he knew just who to throw under the bus.
Kakashi, the bastard, didn't look convinced. Him simply hummed, his dark grey eyes flashing strangely in the lamp light. For a moment, they almost looked silver.
"But what about the fucking yokai dog thing?" Obito asked, watching his boyfriend carefully as he pushed himself to standing. His shirt was wrinkled with sleep, his wild silver hair more tousled that normal, and there was a sheet imprint that ran down his cheek but there were no signs of fur or claws. Not that Obito expected there to be.
Not really.
"Yokai aren't real Bito." Kakashi offered him his hand, helping his hit up before pulling him to his feet. He wrapped his arms around him and held Obito close to his sleep warmed chest. Obito let himself fall into the embrace, breathing in Kakashi's familiar scent. Logically, the words his boyfriend were saying were true but that still didn't explain what he heard, what he saw.
There had been something in the cabin with them.
Something not human.
"Rin and I heard it." he rested his head on Kakashi's shoulder, wrapping an arm around his waist. "I fucking saw it before I apparently brained myself."
"Maa, maybe you heard this?" Kakashi pulled out his phone and tapped the darkened screen. "The formidable sounds of a wolf growling rose up into the air. "It's good for scaring off trespassers. As you can now attest to."
"Oh that's right," he dug around in pockets looking for his phone, suddenly remembering how it had randomly stopped working. But it was no where to be found. Kakashi reached behind him and snatched something off of the end table, dropping a very dead, very unresponsive phone into Obito's hand.
"Looks like the battery is dead."
"I just charged it though." Obito whined. There was no way. No way.
"Maa, you know how things are made these days. They never last."
Obito rubbed at his temples, a low throbbing pain making itself known as it spread from the back of his head down to his spine. "Can I borrow yours? I gotta let Rin know I'm still alive."
Kakashi's lips brushed his cheek, a gentle kiss that made Obito's brain temporarily short circuit. "I already let her know." he said softly, nuzzling into Obito's neck. "She knows you're safe."
"Am I?" Obito couldn't help but ask. Even with Kakashi's lips on his skin and his arms holding him close, he couldn't ignore the feeling that something wasn't right. His phone up and dying, the unnatural darkness that had enveloped the cabin, the creature with sharp teeth and silver eyes, it didn't make any sense. And then there was Kakashi. His sudden appearance, the cabin being his all along, and his explanations were too perfectly crafted that they rang false to his ears.
None of it was adding up.
An inhuman like growl erupted from Kakashi's chest, low and threatening but sharp enough to make Obito flinch in his arms. But he sound died just as quickly as it had started, gone between one heartbeat and the next. Kakashi's teeth sinking lightly into his skin.
"Nothing will harm you while I'm around." Kakashi promised, his voice muffled by Obito's skin. The words held weight as they folded around Obito. Not simply a statement, but a palpable, unbreakable oath that did little to hide the threat that lingered between them.
"C'mon." he said after a moment. "It's late, let's go to bed. I'll bring you back to your apartment tomorrow."
"Will you stay?" Obito asked as he was led into the bedroom, his eyes catching on the rumbled sheets on the bed, the simple chest of drawers tucked into the corner, an overstuffed bookshelf spilling papers onto the floor. "Or will you be coming back here?"
"I have no reason to stay." he shrugged. "It's pretty late in the season so I doubt anymore daring spirits will try kimodameshi and fuck with the cabin."
"Ahh, sorry about that, by the way." Obito sighed, yanking his shorts off and tossing them to the floor, his shirt following moments later. He had already lost his hiking boots and socks along the way. If he was a betting man, he was sure he'd find them sitting next to Kakashi's by the front door because this was a completely normal situation in a completely normal cabin in the woods. "I did try to tell Rin not to you know, break into your house."
"S'fine." Kakashi yawned, flopping down onto the bed and dragging Obito along with him, his teeth on full display. Obito frowned. It was probably a trick of the light, but his canines looked a bit longer and sharper than normal.
"Although," he continued, pushing all thoughts of yokai from his mind as those teeth nipped at his chest. "I'm surprised you joined her Bito. I never took you for the criminal type."
"I wasn't going to let her wander into a creeping fucking cabin in the woods by herself Kashi."
"Fucking cabin? Maa Bito what kind of homeowner do you take me for?"
Obito flicked him on the forehead. "Fuck you Bakashi.
"Not tonight." he mumbled, already falling asleep. "Too tired."
"Unbelievable." Obito sighed, pulling him in close, hoping the familiar shape of his body would finally quiet the questions still thrumming in his mind. But there were still so many things left unanswered, so many things that all lead back to the man currently resting in his arms.
If this was Kakashi's family cabin then why did it look abandoned? Why had he never heard of it before? And that beast - Obito was so sure there had been a creature stalking them. Those teeth had been too real, those eyes too sharp to be a figment of his fear altered mind. Was Kakashi…was Kakashi the yokai the legends spoke of?
A finger nail, as sharp and wicked as a claw trailed down his chest, startling him from his thoughts.
"Sleep, Obito." Kakashi commanded, his voice seeming to echoing strangely in his mind. Obito struggled against it, but the pull of Kakashi's order was too strong. All of his worries, his confusion began to slip away, replaced by the sound of Kakashi's low growling, the feel of him pressed against his body, the smell of pine that always clung to his skin.
Obito melted into it, his eyes finally slipping shut as he fell asleep to the sound of Kakashi's breathing.
He had been overreacting. Letting his imagination get the better of him. There was nothing to worry about.
After all, yokai weren't real.
Surely.