The ground under your feet stirred slightly after each weary step into enemy territory. Your sandals dragged across the mud, coating them in a thick, messy layer of dirt and grime. Every muscle ached; each move felt as though you were walking on knives. The pursuit of Rin was not intended to take more than a few weeks, which it was well beyond that, your mind screamed at you.
Before setting out for her, you learned that a mysterious note was left at Rin's last known whereabouts. On it, it simply read –
'Come find me!'
The Fourth Hokage was also able to gather enough intel to determine that a copious amount of what appeared to be an aloe-like substance with traces of Rin's DNA was found in the areas around The Hidden Sound Village and The Village Hidden by a Waterfall, much to the investigation team's bewilderment. You thought this was strange. One of Zetsu's tasks in the show was to properly destroy evidence, and by "properly," you were of course referring to the fact that he would devour people until there was nothing left. It was suspicious that Zetsu would get careless and leave an evident trail...
...Unless he wanted you to follow him.
Thankfully, due to that consequential talk you had with Minato where you confessed everything, he was confident in granting you and Obito immediate permission to search for Rin. Minato believed in you two; he knew that you gave each other the courage needed to persist in this mission.
~~~
"Not yet, just a little longer," Obito huffed out between heavy breaths. In order to speed up the search, both of you had been skipping meals and neglecting sleep, relying on sheer perseverance to push you forward.
"Obito... wait..." you uttered weakly and rested both your hands on your knees with your body bent forward, desperate to catch your breath.
"I know what you're gonna say, but we can't stop now... We have to keep looking!" he said and used one arm to prop himself up against the trunk of a tree, wheezing harshly.
Your heart ached to see Obito so disheveled. He was worried over his friend, but he was so, so tired.
"Obito, stop!" Your words had enough force in them to direct his attention toward you. "What good would we be to Rin if we showed up in this condition?"
Obito ceased his heavy panting and switched to breathing quietly through his nose to consider what you just said.
"It's okay to rest, just for a moment. Please, Obito?"
Obito was about to object, but then he peered over at you again. The two of you had been moving almost nonstop for weeks. Your face was scratched up, your clothes were tattered, the overall unhealthy tone of your skin was concerning. But the part that struck Obito the deepest was your eyes. The heavy lines and dark circles under them showed the lack of rest that plagued you. He was pushing you to your absolute limit, he realized.
At that, his eyes softened, the guilt evident in them from dragging you too far. With a long inhale through his nose, Obito finally gave in began setting up camp.
~~~
Although the crisp temperature forced you deep into a sleeping bag, and unsettled of the unfamiliar surroundings, the stars still looked the same as they did back home, shining as brightly as ever.
"It feels like it's been so long since we got to do this," you voiced softly, gazing up at the stars. Your sleeping bags were so close together that your elbows touched when your arms crossed behind your heads.
Obito laid in silence, thinking to himself.
It really has been a while, huh...?
That thought bugged him. It had been too long for his liking.
Something else was gnawing at him, too. He'd wanted to speak up for a while but strangely found himself unable to. After a few more moments had passed, Obito finally swallowed his pride and spoke.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled and slouched deeper into his sleeping bag.
"I...beg your pardon?"
You turned to face him; brows furrowed. Obito was apologizing? For all the years that you've known Obito, one of the things you understood about him the most was that he rarely apologized. You noted the only other time he had ever said sorry to you was when he was shouting it frantically, trying to put out the flames on your dress caused by one of his fireballs while sparring with you that one time. You just assumed that 'sorry' just wasn't in his vocabulary.
But this apology was different. It was soft, genuine, and filled with so much emotion that it caused you to pause for a moment.
"I – I said that I'm sorry... for pushing us so hard..." he said. His eyelids were low in both guilt and exhaustion. "We need to find Rin, but I haven't been paying attention to what's been going on with you. I know you're trying your best. I just..."
Obito began tightly squeezing a bunched up portion of the inside of his sleeping bag. You didn't need to see it to know that's what he was doing – you heard it.
You couldn't help but grin at Obito's rare display of vulnerability. It was a side of him that he didn't allow people to witness often, not even Rin.
Your mind began trailing off at the thought of Rin. You had been trying to discern the state of Obito's feelings for her for a while. When the three of you were younger, Obito always sported a blush on his face when he was around her. There was a light in him – but now, there was nothing like that around her. The light diminished. Your eyes squinted for a moment, fighting to understand why.
It couldn't have been that he liked somebody else; the only girls he was ever around were you and Rin. You thought that you made your feelings for him unmistakably clear during that assassination mission, but he never openly reciprocated, so you chose to let things be. You were just thankful that Obito was still your best friend and the three of you were able to escape that prison unscathed.
Well almost anyway, you winced at the thought and grasped your previously broken hand.
But I shouldn't be thinking about this now. I should be tending to my friend during his moment of weakness.
"Hey, I get it. You're just looking out for our friend. If I were to get kidnapped, I –"
"D-don't say things like that!" Obito snapped, his head whipping in your direction.
You subconsciously pulled yourself deeper into your sleeping bag. "Wh-what do you mean? Things like what?"
Obito stared at you with a look of distress on his face before it relaxed into a softer, more embarrassed one.
"I... didn't mean to say it like that. Just hearing you talk about yourself that way... it... it scares me," he stammered, averting his eyes to the ground by your face.
Obito? Scared?
Obito was holding back when he said the thought of losing you scared him. He was beyond terrified of it. Ever since that first mission, he swore that he'd never let anything happen to you. Just thinking about you getting captured and losing you was too much for him to bear.
"Hey," you whispered, prompting Obito to shift his eyes back up to meet yours, his look of shame melting your heart.
"Relax. I'm here. And we're going to find her, I'll bet ramen on it, my treat," you said with a smile and a wink in hopes of lightening the mood.
Obito finally cracked a smile and chuckled. It was the first smile you had seen for weeks. It was breathtaking, as always.
"Yeah? Well I hope you've been saving up from your missions, 'cause after what we've been through I'm gonna clean that place out!"
You understood exactly how Obito felt. The two of you have been living off measly rations for way too long.
I would kill for a bowl of ramen right about now.
Speaking of which...
"Obito, could you do just one thing for me?"
"Yeah, and what would that be, exactly?"
"Could we consider stopping to rest just a bit more often from now on? I don't like how we've been skipping meals. I need you to eat more for me and keep up your strength."
You knew Obito was strong, but you needed him to stay strong.
Obito's eyes lit up in surprise. It hadn't occurred to him just how often he'd disregard rations and ignored his hunger. Deep down, he was touched that you cared about him so much to concern yourself with something like that.
"I really can't argue with that. I really thought we stopped to rest more than we actually have."
"Yeah, maybe now you'll actually stop and take the time to wash those goggles so you can see these things better, hm?" you said in a snarky but entirely playful tone.
"Hey, don't mock the goggles, you know that they'll be carved into the Hokage Rock somed-"
Obito's rant was interrupted by a growl, one that was so disturbingly loud, and it came straight from his stomach. His face flushed in embarrassment as he grasped at his stomach, desperate to stop the sound to no avail.
You giggled knowingly and grabbed something from inside your sleeping bag before handing it to Obito.
"What's this?"
"It's a bento box from part of my rations. Take it."
"Where'd you even get that? Our food's in our bag way over there."
You playfully feigned defeat. "I was going to sneak it while you were asleep, but looks like you've foiled my plans."
Normally Obito would object to taking your rations. You needed to stay strong, too, after all. But stopping to rest finally gave his body the time it needed to process that his system was empty and he needed something now. He accepted with tears in his eyes from your sacrifice.
After a while, it was time for the moment you had been aching for: it was time to sleep. The both of you bid sweet dreams before snuggling into your respective sleeping bags, which were still dangerously close together.
~~~
There had been something else plaguing your mind for quite some time, even before leaving to find Rin. Whenever you two had stopped to rest, as infrequent as that was, something Obito said to you really started to eat at you.
"...Obito, are you still awake?"
"Hmm," he mumbled under his sleeping bag, his eyes still closed.
"Obito... do you really think that I'm worse than scum?"
You were referring to that instance inside the village gates where Obito thought it was necessary to give you his 'those who abandon their friends are worse than scum' talk, and the implications behind it cut you deeper than it probably should have. It was made ten times worse coming from the one you love.
Obito turned toward you, his intense black eyes looking deep into yours. "Huh? Of course you're not, (y/n). You're nothing like that."
He peered at you with that kind, genuine gaze for a few long moments. The sparkling reflection of the stars within his eyes made his features look even more striking. You hadn't noticed that you started blushing until the warm rush made its way to your cheeks.
It was time for your moment of weakness.
"Well, the first day we left to go find Rin, you thought that I was abandoning the both of you and you told me that people like that are worse than scum. I – I just don't want you to think of me that way..."
Obito thought back to that day when he first heard the news of Rin's disappearance. His emotions had gotten the best of him; he just wanted to look for his friend as soon as possible. For years, he had to put up with Kakashi and his strict, rule-abiding, no exceptions attitude, and it finally got the best of him – and he directed it to the wrong person. He hadn't even realized how what he said could have affected you.
To imply that you were scum. Obito cringed at the idea.
"No, (y/n). You're the total opposite of scum. I... I shouldn't have said that to you. I know you would never abandon a comrade, and I... I'm thankful for that... For you..."
From the weary tone in his voice, you could tell Obito was exhausted - not just physically, but mentally as well. It was absolutely draining for someone like him to express himself so intimately to another person. Relieved from his answer, you smiled and said one final thing before letting sleep finally overtake you.
"I'm thankful for you too, Obito."