Obito blinked in confusion as he opened his eyes. He looked around him. It wasn't the cave. It was outside. He stood up in alarm. Was this another one of Madara's tricks? He gazed suspiciously at the trees, waiting for them to morph into one of his nightmares, but they never did. They stayed still and straight. Their shadows stretched from them innocently. There were no red eyes, no horrid screams. His calloused hands were clean. It was all so peaceful.
"Obito?" a voice made him jump. It wasn't low and cold as he had expected to hear. Actually, it sounded adolescent. It was a voice that had patronized him incessantly since his academy days. But now it sounded strange. Happy, he'd say if he didn't know better.
He turned around and almost cried for joy. "Hey, Kakashi." he breathed. His voice almost caught in his throat. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed him. Kakashi must have been feeling the same because he then did something Obito would have never guessed him to do in a million years. Kakashi stood on shaky legs and made his way across the short distance separating them. He wavered for a second when he reached him, then fell to his knees and pulled Obito into a hug.
"We thought you were dead." he said, and if Obito wasn't mistaken; Kakashi was crying, or almost at least. After getting over his shock - partially - a small smile spread Obito's lips and he returned the embrace.
"So did I." he replied softly. He wasn't sure what to say after that. For once he was out of words. How does he comfort a guy who never showed emotion before? How could he tell him it was okay when he wasn't sure of that himself?
'Shinobi don't cry.', he remembered Kakashi spouting those condescending words at him so many times. He wondered if he still believed that, or if this was moment was an exception. Or maybe he had just morphed into a hypocrite during his time away. Or maybe, just maybe, he had changed.
Finally, Kakashi pulled away sniffling quietly. Obito noticed only then that one side of his head band was pulled down, over his left eye. As he lifted it slightly to wipe away the dampness left by his tears, Obito caught a glimpse of red. Of his own eye in place of the one Kakashi had lost. He brought up a hand subconsciously to cover his own empty socket.
"So, has it been a useless burden?" he joked, needing to fill the silence so desperately. He had the irrational fear that it was all just a dream and as soon as he stopped indulging it it would all fade away to a distant, wanting whisper to taunt him in his misery.
Kakashi breathed out a half-hearted laugh. "No. It definitely isn't useless." but he sounded almost. . . sad.
"Just a burden then?"
"Not the bad kind." Kakashi said and his voice was almost hoarse as he replaced the band.
Obito smirked. "There's a good kind of burden to be had? Learn something new everyday don't you?" he said lowly.
"It serves as a reminder. What you said that day, when I wanted to go on with the mission instead of saving Rin," the silver-haired boy trailed off. He pulled the headband back over the eye.
Obito squinted as he tried to remember what he had said. He was going to ask, but Kakashi answered the question before he got the chance, as if he had simply read his mind.
"'In the ninja world, those who break the rules are regarded as scum, but those who would abandon even one of their comrades is worse than scum.'" he quoted. "Naruto said the same thing to me once. It reminds me that there are things worth being shunned for. That I would rather be scum than to lose another friend." while he said this, Kakashi couldn't meet his eyes.
Obito wheezed out a breath. Had Kakashi really just said that? Perhaps he was dreaming. Had his death really been that hard in him? He had always been of the assumption that Kakashi hated him. But to admit there were things more important than the rules; had he really meant that much to him? It honestly hurt to consider. It made him feel irrationally guilty for not getting out of Madara's lair sooner (even though that wasn't really in his own control). He decided to change the subject instead.
"If you thought I was dead, why were you there?" Obito asked. Had they been after something else and stumbled upon him by chance? Maybe they were after Madara? Maybe they had been passing through the mountains and just happened upon his chakra signature? With how apt both Naruto and Minato were at sensory, this wasn't all that far-fetched.
Kakashi glanced across the camp to a shadowed lump, and then back to Obito. "It was Naruto. I'm not sure how he knew, but he came to my apartment a few days ago and asked me to help out on a mission. I only found out later that it was to rescue you. Apparently he and Minato-Sensei have been planning for it for weeks already."
"Naruto's here?" a stupid question as he was now looking straight at his blond head. Obito didn't have to ask how Naruto had known. He was from the future. The truth he had so denied at first could be overlooked no longer. In fact, Obito had been convinced for a while already. The reason Naruto knew was that to him, this had all already happened. To him, rescuing Obito was just a means to change his timeline. But Obito would never say so. Not to Kakashi anyways. He knew that while he never showed it, Kakashi admired Naruto. He looked up to him. Obito wouldn't ruin that. Besides, the haunting image of his own malevolence flashed before him. He pictured Kakashi, grown up and matured, begging him to stop his madness. Pleading with him to stop killing. He could almost perfectly recall the vision of his friend falling at his feet while Obito used his death to mock Kakashi's student. He could feel the sickening sense of satisfaction that followed as he watched Naruto scream in agony as if a vital organ was being forcibly pulled from his chest. He shivered at the nothingness that had been felt at Kakashi's death. He thought he might throw up. He shoved the scene down and forced himself to look else where. But other scenes took front in it's absence. Not only had Obito killed Naruto's sensei in his timeline, but his father too. And his mother. And so very many of his friends and comrades. No wonder the blonde had been so cold to him when they first met. The rage in his eyes when he first saw him suddenly didn't seem so strange. The only strange thing now was how it slowly disappeared over time. That he forgave him. Obito shook his head to dislodge the thoughts.
Trying to find something that wasn't Naruto or Kakashi to focus on, Obito he saw it. Or him. The man who had hung on the statue thing among the Zetsu. An old friend, Madara had called him.
Obito froze. "What is he doing here?" he spat. He knew the man was Sasuke. Sasuke was Madara's enemy. Yet Madara had called him an old friend. Why? He could be lead to believe that Sasuke had been under one of Madara's jutsu. So what if he still was? Sasuke was extremely powerful, perhaps Naruto could match him, but Sasuke still posed a rather large threat. Especially if Madara had a hold on him.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes almost bitterly, looking at the blond. "I didn't quite get the whole story, but he's Naruto's friend." he informed. "He seems really close to him. He even cried when he came down from the mountains with him." a lot of crying today.
Obito's eyebrows raised. "Naruto cried?" he muttered. "But that man, he could be with Madara."
Kakashi shook his head. "He was under some kind of jutsu." so his assumptions had been right. Still. . .
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Obito said almost snappily.
Kakashi rose his eyebrows, clearly not expecting that kind of reaction. "Relax Obito. Naruto broke it. But just incase, he has sensory-blocking seals on him. He won't regain consciousness until they're removed." he explained, but there was a strange reluctance. As if he wasn't sure himself if the Uchiha was to be trusted.
It did make him feel better though. Even if there was no jutsu on him, Obito still would not trust Sasuke. The guy had the capacity to be a monster. The kind that stalked your dreams and poisoned your lullabys. He remembered. Obito remembered everything. He really wished he didn't, because he knew now that somewhere deep inside, he had the same monster. Except maybe his was worse.
Wanting to change the subject quickly, Obito asked about Rin and Kakashi told him. She was doing well under the circumstances. She hadn't taken his death well, but she was training really hard now. She was a student of Lady Tsunade's and occasionally still had lessons from Naruto or Minato.
Obito found comfort in Kakashi's presence. He was awkward, unfamiliar with the concept of trying to be nice; but Obito found it funny. They talked on and off through the night. Kakashi being generous with his words in that, he spoke more than Obito thought he was capable of. Though he did have to prod him a bit to get him to continue. He asked all about Minato and more about Rin. He asked a little about Kakashi himself but quickly caught on that Kakashi didn't appreciate it. He would rather talk about other people and things.
Eventually Kakashi ran out of words and went quiet, lost to his own thoughts; looking alternately between Naruto, Sasuke and Minato with a solemn expression, lost in his own head. But Obito didn't mind. He thought of how, in a way it felt like that day in the cave with the fallen rocks, the day he given away one of his eyes to his friend in hopes he could do what Obito couldn't, it felt like that day had been yesterday. But it also felt like that day had been a thousand years ago. He looked over at all the sleeping people, at his team, and wondered how he'd fit now. He felt almost like a different person. The things Madara had shown him. The future. He wondered if it would would come to pass again. Would Naruto one day come to kill him?
Would Kakashi one day face him as an enemy? Would Obito's hands one day be stained with the blood of his sensei and Kushina who had often treated Obito as her own child? And he wondered if he would one day have to live in a world that was void of light. That was void of Rin. He thought, even if he now was so adamant he would never be as he was in Naruto's timeline, he wasn't certain that he could promise it if she died. Perhaps even with his resistance, his monster would one day still open it's paralyzing eyes. And worse even, he might even come to welcome it.