A/N: I highly recommend listening to the music tracks I provide in the story to help enhance the scenes! ^^
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You always knew the duties of a Genin were never particularly hard, but what caught you off guard was the sheer amount of D-ranked missions your squad was forced to complete. The nation was at war, meaning there were considerably less ninja readily available for missions which essentially left the lower-ranked ninja with twice the amount of work. This cut in with your time with Obito immensely, though the two of you did manage to still make time for each other every now and then.
Youwere walking home after a mission late one evening, the route you followed takingyou through the ninja academy. Looking around its vicinity brought nostalgic memories of the playing, fighting, training, and learning that took place there when you were only 8 years old. You glanced at the lone swing on a nearby tree and winced.
Hopefully the future I create will make it so you don't ever have to be alone on that swing, Naruto.
Your thoughts were interrupted by the doors to the academy swinging open, and you stopped in your tracks when you saw Obito walking out. Your first reaction was to wave and call out to him, however, your intent was soon diminished when another form emerged immediately after him, this individual being none other than Rin Nohara. Your once bright face was immediately replaced with distraught as you studied each of their smiling faces.
– is... is Obito... blushing...?
I can't. I can't watch this, you said to yourself and reversed your steps to walk away.
You couldn't explain why, but something compelled you to stop and look back one more time; just in time to catch Obito sporting his signature smile – the one you had begun falling in love with.
No. Stop those thoughts right now, (y/n). You've been through this. If I do change the future, then Rin will most likely survive and Obito will continue to fixate after her. Even if she never reciprocates, he wouldn't give up on her that easily. You'll only be hurting yourself if you keep this up, (y/n).
You let your mind wander, your gaze never leaving your best friend's form. You were shaken out of your thoughts once you noticed the two of them parting ways, with Obito heading through the main part of town. You were frozen in place deciding what to do. Before your mind could process your decision, your feet began to move toward his disappearing form. Your walk became a jog, which then formed into a sprint. Eventually you were in close enough proximity to call out to the Uchiha.
"Obito!" you shouted out in a mix of exhaustion and glee.
Recognizing your voice immediately, Obito turned to greet you with that charming smile you were fawning over mere moments before. "(y/n)! It's been a while! What'chu been up to these days?"
Obito's reminiscing tone made you realize just how long it's been since you two properly hung out. Realizing this made you go a little melancholy and your eyes naturally went downcast to the Ichiraku Ramen shop on your right, which prompted a great idea.
"How about I tell you over ramen," you offered, pointing to the shop on your right with your thumb. "My treat."
Looking at the shop then back to you, Obito's smile returned to his face. "How do you always know what I'm thinking?" he exclaimed with a cocky yet friendly grin on his lips. "You big weirdo."
~~~
"So what's the story, why are you all scratched up?" Obito said inquisitively, noting the various cuts, grass stains and scratches riddling your face and clothes.
"Oh it's nothing, just Kyoko and I got into a bit of a disagreement again."
"Are you serious? That cat escaped again? That's gotta be what, the third time this month?"
"Yeah and somehow my team's the one who always gets assigned to capturing this nuisance of a cat. It makes me wonder why she doesn't just stay home. I can only imagine how her family treats her. But still, I find it kind of hilarious that her name is Kyoko because from what I've heard that name literally translates to "respectful child" and let me tell you, she is anything but respectful to me!"
Both of you shared a chuckle at the irony before he spoke up again, still eyeing your injuries. "Do your scratches hurt? I can get Rin to come by and patch you u-"
"No!" you shouted, perhaps a tad too loudly, as an awkward silence followed shortly after your ill-mannered interruption.
Even the shop's owner, the man about to pass you two your ramen, paused cautiously as he waited for a sign of amity among the two of you.
"I-I'm sorry, Obito. I didn't mean to raise my voice," you uttered meekly to the startled Uchiha.
"Raise your voice is an understatement, (y/n)! What was that for? All I did was offer to get your wounds treated!" Obito defended himself, with the hurt transparent in his voice.
"No, yeah. You're absolutely right. I just, um, panicked when you started talking about treating wounds. I got frightened thinking about what would happen if I didn't get these treated and those thoughts scared me. I really am sorry, Obito. Can you forgive me? At least while we eat our ramen?" you suggested with a gentle smile appearing on your face.
Obito's eyes softened at your apology and with your smile being a contagious one, he cracked one back with his eyes closed and joked, "Well I can't say no to that! You did say it was your treat, after all."
Seeing your tone reverting to a friendly one, the owner happily handed the ramen over to you and Obito, where he took no time to dig in.
You felt guilty for essentially lying to your best friend. Lying is disrespectful; an insult to one's intelligence, you thought. But in this case you had to, because you knew the real reason why you snapped at Obito was because of him suggesting that he went to get Rin, which meant he would see her outside of his usual team meetups. You felt terrible for feeling this way; Obito could go see her if he wanted to. This was another reason why you've been trying so hard to put your walls up before he could do anything more to your heart, any more than he already had. Midway through eating, a question you were meaning to ask popped into your mind.
"So what exactly were you and Rin doing at the ninja academy earlier, especially when it's so late?" you asked, noting how the setting sun casted a vibrant orange in the village square just outside the shop's banners.
"Me and Rin finished a mission earlier when she asked me to go with her to drop off some medical documents at the academy. It was sort of boring at some parts, but... I didn't mind it..."
You quietly but resentfully noticed the subtle blush dusted on his cheeks at the mention of her name.
"Wait, how did you even know about that? Have you been following us?"
A question that was, to your relief, one that was easy to answer truthfully. Though that didn't stop a sigh from passing through you from the thought of Obito thinking you were a stalker.
"Honest to goodness I was on my way home from today's mission when you two happened to cross my path. I was just curious, is all."
You looked up at Obito after a moment of silence to search for a reaction. His face was still full of suspicion.
"Maybe Lord Third was right when he accused you of being an outside spy all those years ago," he joked with an exuberant look on his face, to which you replied by laughing at the absurdity.
"I can't believe you remember that! It seems like so long ago."
"Well of course I do, (y/n)! It was the first day we ever met. That's a pretty important day to remember in my book," he voiced nonchalantly while gulping down another mouthful of ramen. You sat there quietly, processing that Obito really does care for you and your friendship with him.
Our friendship. Nothing more.
With a slight frown, you then shook your head, purging the thought. "So what are your plans tonight?"
"I was on my way over to the training grounds to get some shuriken target practice in when you stopped me."
"Do you mind if I tag along? It's been so long since I got to see you. I don't know when we'll get to hang out again – unless of course you'd rather practice alone," you ended with a mutter, embarrassed by being unable to suppress your excitement to invite yourself into Obito's business.
"Funny, I was just about to ask you if you'd like to come. There you go reading my mind again," Obito teased.
You and Obito headed to the training grounds shortly after, where you two practiced, sparred and talked well into the night, until you walked Obito home before eventually going separate ways. For how long, you were painfully unaware.
"Good night, Obito."
"Night, (y/n)."