Lifting his eyes, Nariya Ueshima saw the young man before him looking back with pitch-black pupils that were clean and clear, his gaze sparkling like jewels. The smile blooming across his face was overflowing with optimism.
Not expecting Obito to think he was envious of the photograph, Nariya Ueshima fell silent for several seconds. Deeply moved, he swallowed down the urge to explain, smiled faintly, and nodded. "Alright, when you get back, we'll go."
Even though he wasn't envious of that at all and was just talking nonsense to cover it up, even an idiot had his own adorable side.
He might as well just go along with what the guy was saying.
Hearing his affirmative reply, Obito's smile instantly widened a fraction more.
Then, he suddenly froze. As if struck by a bolt of lightning, he yanked his hand back from the top of Nariya Ueshima's head at lightning speed.
"?"
A puzzled Nariya Ueshima tilted his head, watching Obito's bizarrely shifting expression.
Two seconds later, having finally snapped out of it, Obito asked with an embarrassed look, "Ueshima, when are you going to get a haircut?"
"Cut my hair? What for?"
Obito drew in a sharp breath and closed his eyes. After a moment of hard internal struggle, he spoke up, sounding somewhat exasperated: "Because I keep glancing over and mistaking you for a girl!"
Nariya Ueshima: "??"
Seeming to feel that saying this might wound his self-esteem, Obito hurriedly added, "I'm not saying you lack masculinity or anything! It's just that long hair is r-really no good."
"...Why is it no good?"
"Because it's bad for my heart!"
"???"
Seeing him frown, Obito sheepishly scratched his cheek. "Even though I've always hoped for a pretty, cute little sister who everyone dotes on, but—"
He trailed off, rubbing his hands against his trouser legs as if trying to wipe away the sensation of those soft strands lingering between his fingertips.
"There's no way I could actually look at you like a girl!"
"Oh, I get it."
Nariya Ueshima said, "You're afraid that if I walk around like this with you, Rin or some other girl might accidentally spot us, misunderstand our relationship, and ruin your chances with the ladies, right?"
"Huh!?" Obito was startled; he hadn't even thought of that angle.
...No, wait!
That wasn't what he was worried about at all!
"What I mean is getting short hair is safer! You have no idea what kind of creepy old perverts are lurking outside the village these days. Without my protection, if someone with zero combat ability like you gets targeted because they think you're a girl—Whoa!!"
Freaking out like a worried mother hen, Obito yelled with wide eyes, "Where, where, where did you pull a pair of scissors out from so fast?!"
"Never mind that."
Pinching a strand of white hair and eyeballing the length, Nariya Ueshima didn't even blink as he went *snip* and cut straight through it.
This panicked Obito to no end. He hurriedly scrambled to dig out a mirror and thrust it over. "Don't just go snipping blindly! What are you going to do if you ruin it?"
Looking at the shining, spotless mirror, Nariya Ueshima asked, "Obito, do you look in the mirror often? I didn't see one on your desk, so I thought you didn't use one."
"I don't look at it often! I only use it when I'm putting in eye drops at home!"
After that, so as not to disturb him while he concentrated on cutting his hair, the room fell into a heavy silence.
Obito lay on the bed with a book held upside down, occasionally darting glances over here, his little expression looking even more nervous than the one cutting the hair.
"I can't see the back of my head, so it's hard to cut. Obito, can you do it for me?"
"C-Coming."
Setting the book aside, Obito bounced up in one smooth motion, his hand holding the scissors trembling slightly.
Dammit, he had no idea how to cut hair either.
"Start from around here, like this." As if knowing he was struggling, Nariya Ueshima used his feelings to gesture a few times behind his ears.
Obito let out two "oh-oh"s, half-understanding. Unable to see the other's face for the moment, he inadvertently glanced into the mirror.
Then he abruptly froze.
After a long pause, he said, "Ueshima, after you're done cutting, why don't we go dye your hair? Black."
Nariya Ueshima, once again stunned by Obito-kun's sudden flight of imagination: "?"
Pondering for a moment, he spoke up: "Then should I also buy a pair of black glasses to wear?"
Obito, who was currently immersed in the fantasy of having a pretty younger brother, nodded proudly.
"Should I also change my last name to Uchiha Ueshima?"
Obito nodded proudly once more.
Then, snapping back to reality with a start, he hurriedly shook his head. "Just be yourself, Ueshima! Don't worry about it, I was just talking nonsense!"
After all, making an orphan give up their own surname felt a bit too hurtful.
Even though it was impossible to pull off anyway.
The night was cool as water. The two of them slept in the same bed, but Obito tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
He looked over at the person lying flat on his back beside him, who had already drifted off to dreamland.
With steady breathing and a peaceful sleeping face, Obito couldn't help a happy little smile from slipping out.
Then he closed his eyes, listened closely to the surrounding tranquility, and unexpectedly managed to fall fast asleep.
At five-thirty, still half-asleep, he heard noises coming one after another from the kitchen and the living room outside.
Obito instinctively rolled over, ignored it, and kept sleeping.
It felt like hardly any time had passed before an enticing aroma drifted in, instantly tempting the sleeping glutton. Right on cue, the six o'clock alarm went off.
"Ring-ring—Ring-ring—"
Slapping it off, Obito sat up looking thoroughly aggrieved, scratching his messy hair.
Suddenly, he heard voices outside, followed by the sound of a door closing.
His muddled brain snapped awake instantly, and he leaped out of bed, sprinting out in a single dash.
"Yo." Finished with his greeting, Kakashi expertly shoved an onigiri into his mouth, took a bite to chew, and didn't forget to throw in a jab, "Did your head just get clawed up by a chicken?"
"You, you, you!!" Obito didn't even know what to say. "You really treat my house like your own?!"
"Wrong." Kakashi took another sip of warm miso soup and picked up a mouthful of side dishes. "I treat Ueshima as one of us, so I'm here eating breakfast made by my own people."
"What gives you the right to say something so mushy when you've only met Ueshima three times in total?!"
"No, counting today, it's four." Kakashi said unhurriedly. "The count might be low, but the bond runs deep."
Hearing this, a disgusted Obito looked ready to vomit.
"I advise you to hurry up and get ready to eat. We need to gather at the village entrance by six-forty. I'm supervising you personally today, so you better not be late."
"Don't nag!"
Obito gritted his teeth and sat down, only to realize someone was missing from the room. He asked, "Where did you hide Ueshima?"
Kakashi pulled a sticky note out of the desk drawer, laid it on the table, and pushed it toward Obito.
Obito looked closely and realized the note had been placed upside down, a vein bulging on his forehead.
Annoyed by his slow pace, Kakashi simply spoke up: "Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't completely dawn yet and the Uchiha Military Police Force hadn't mobilized, Ueshima headed back on his own—just half a minute before you charged out."
Obito had an epiphany.
"So that means the breakfast you're eating right now was Ueshima's? Have some humanity, Kakashi!"
At six-forty, two figures appeared punctually at the village entrance.
Except Kakashi was running ahead while Obito chased wildly behind.
Nohara Rin and Namikaze Minato were both somewhat surprised—surprised to see these two frequent squabblers showing up together, and surprised that Obito actually wasn't late.
"Obito, you did a great job." Nohara Rin praised him.
Then, with Obito blushing fiercely, she dropped a bombshell: "I suppose it's because being in love gives you a lot more motivation, huh?"
Obito: "???"
Kakashi: "Pfft." He laughed mercilessly.
Namikaze Minato, being naturally oblivious: "..."
Oh? Are my students dating? Though, isn't this age a bit early for that?