"Deal."
The two of them made the simple promise.
Suddenly, Obito's smile faltered as something caught his eye, a trace of surprise flickering across his face.
"Nariya, did you buy new stationery and a schoolbag?"
At the mention of this, Nariya Ueshima remembered and told Obito that he would be entering the ninja academy the next day.
Obito's eyes widened upon hearing this, and he looked far happier than Nariya himself: "Really? That's amazing! Since Lord Hokage recommended it, you should definitely go!"
"That way, maybe we can fight side by side someday!"
"Don't go getting too strong all of a sudden, though!"
Nariya chuckled, drawing a light, slow tone: "You're already a Chunin now, so a rookie like me could never catch up to you no matter how hard I try."
Obito, intentionally puffed up by the praise, nodded with great satisfaction, only to shake his head a second later, realizing something was off.
He couldn't think like that!
"Genius might be rare, but I do have one around me—take that guy Kakashi, for instance. He's a famously certified genius."
Admitting that his peer was exceptional, Obito pouted, then quickly shed his awkward expression, turning bright and cheerful again.
"Nariya might just become a genius like him, too!"
As he spoke, his restless nerves began to hum with excitement. Clenching his fists with a full-blown urge to show off, he eagerly proposed, "Hey, do you want me to teach you some basic Chakra knowledge right now? Oh man, if only I'd kept my old books! I wonder if Rin still has hers..."
Hearing Obito's rambling desire to play teacher, Nariya somehow found the classic mental image of Naruto teaching Konohamaru the Rasengan automatically popping into his head.
Talk about someone daring to teach, and someone actually managing to learn it entirely on their own.
Konohamaru was a genius, after all.
Besides, come to think of it, this Obito kid was a notoriously famous dropout back during his academy days.
Recalling that title wasn't meant to mock or look down on Obito-kun; it was just that Obito's self-confidence was rather nice, and at least his earnest attitude looked quite cute.
"Pfft." Seeing Obito flustered on the spot, looking even more nervous than himself, Nariya couldn't help but be amused.
Noticing the shift in his expression, Obito paused with a puzzled look: "Nariya, what are you laughing at?"
"Because I just saw an ant on a hot pan."
"..."
It took a second to process, but realizing he was talking about him, Obito's face instantly tightened, his expression briefly flashing with wounded pride and anger: "Damn it, I was clearly looking out for you, and yet you're making fun of me again!"
"Sorry, sorry."
Nariya stood up with a faint smile, reached out, and gave Obito's hair a reassuring pat: "Don't be mad. Let's drop that for now—you must be exhausted coming back from a mission, and since it's just in time for noon, take a rest here while I go make lunch."
With his head being patted, Obito blinked. Instantly, the wave of embarrassment receded like the tide, and he quieted down.
"Oh... okay."
Watching Nariya walk past him to get to work, he grew quiet and slumped over the sofa, his gaze tracking Nariya's figure back and forth.
If—if he ignored all other factors, living together with Nariya like this wouldn't actually be bad, just like a pair of close brothers.
Like a family.
*Is it really because falling in love has given me a lot more motivation?*
Right at that moment, for some reason, Rin's words from yesterday when they rendezvoused at the village gates suddenly echoed automatically in his mind.
Obito froze in thought, subconsciously and awkwardly shifting his gaze away from the person he had been staring at.
Although he had explained the truth of the matter to Rin at the time, that remark would still pop up in his head from time to time, making him a little too afraid to look at Nariya.
He just felt terribly guilty.
That was one of the reasons why he had made and given the flute.
Two minutes passed in silence. Hearing nothing, Nariya looked back curiously from washing the vegetables and saw Obito burying his face in his arms, lying there so quietly that he thought the kid had fallen asleep, so he softened his movements.
But after a short while, Obito's voice piped up again.
"Nariya, Rin told me she wants to see you."
"Huh?" Nariya paused, utterly surprised. "What does she want to see me for?"
"Just... just to get to know you. She said Kakashi and I both know you, and as a trusted comrade of ours, she doesn't want to feel left out or anything."
"Alright, you arrange it."
Hearing his prompt agreement, Obito hurriedly lifted his head, raising his voice to give instructions: "Then you have to promise me you won't use that thing to tease me in front of Rin!"
Nariya couldn't help laughing: "I know when to pick my moments. Don't worry, teasing you in front of you is enough—after all, that's one of my few pleasures."
Obito: "..."
Who would've thought this Nariya guy could be so, so mean!
That said, he didn't actually mean to be angry at all.
In fact, he sprang right up and strode over in high spirits, "Speaking of which, what are we having? I'll help!"
-
After enjoying a delicious lunch, Obito leaned against the edge of the sofa, rubbing his satisfied belly and wondering what to do with his afternoon.
How about heading over to the usual training grounds, and bringing Nariya along to take a look?
Right, let's do that!
Having made up his mind, he straightened his back just as he was about to speak, when Nariya's calm inquiry came from ahead.
"Obito, what do you think of the Hatake clan?"
"?"
The person clearing the table kept moving, seemingly asking the question quite casually.
This left Obito completely baffled: "Why are you asking that, Nariya?"
The person before him answered with a question of his own: "If I go live at Kakashi's house, won't it be hard for you to come visit me as often?"
"......What!?"
Catching the words, Obito's delayed reaction hit him like he had springs on the soles of his feet. He bounded off the floor in a flash, dashed right up to the table, stretched his neck out far, and stared in shock.
Why so sudden??
And why call it going to live at Kakashi's house?
Seeing him so worked up, Nariya explained, "Because Kakashi's father, Uncle Sakumo, came to see me yesterday. From the sound of it, he's basically inviting me to live with the Hatake clan."
Hearing this, a shocked Obito suddenly remembered what Kakashi had said to him during their bickering yesterday.
*[Someday soon I'll ask my father to bring Nariya over to my place; there's not that much going on in the Hatake house.]*
"..."
There was no need to wait for "someday soon"—that bastard Kakashi had clearly beaten him to the punch! Why else would his dad suddenly seek Nariya out?
Struck by a heavy emotional blow, Obito's gaze went blank for a few long seconds.
It wasn't until he saw Nariya gather all the bowls and chopsticks into the sink that he blinked back his composure, letting out a long *ah*, as if exasperated by his own overreaction.
"I think this... is a really good thing."
He sat down, speaking as calmly as he could, then swept his gaze around the sparsely populated room before letting it fall back on the figure not far away.
"If someone's there to keep you company, Nariya, I'll feel a lot more at ease. Besides, living in a house this empty must be pretty miserable, right?"
"Even though that guy Kakashi is always running his mouth and saying things that make people mad, I still acknowledge him."
"And his dad is so amazing, too. If you go become an adopted son of the Hatake clan, it'll do a lot of good for your life."
The more he spoke, the quieter Obito's voice became.
By the end, he had lost his voice entirely.