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chapter two

Obito looked down at Rin's body, her blood was leaking all over him and Kakashi. Obito felt fresh tears go down his face, but he reached out and put a hand in Kakashi's bloodstained white hair. Kakashi's whole body shuddered. Obito ran his fingers along Kakashi's scalp, unsure of what to do to comfort his friend. Kakashi winced at his touch, but he kept his face buried in Obito's knee. "I forgive you." Obito whispered hoarsely, feeling a rush of peace run through his body at the thought.

It felt like every single nerve of his body was breathing and quaking, and he had never felt more alive in his life. Something about saying those words- about releasing the hatred of Kakashi from his person and just accepting that Rin was gone- something about that made him know deep down that he was making the right decision. He was in pain, but his soul was at peace.

Kakashi only sobbed harder and louder at that, but Obito knew that he was mending. The gaping wound that had been torn into Kakashi's heart was being sewn shut by Obito's acceptance. Obito kept his hand in Kakashi's hair, closing his eyes and looking up at the blood moon. It perfectly matched the blood surrounding them right now. And it was everywhere- dripping, oozing into the earth where it came to rest. Obito vaguely registered that the blood was partly his fault, but he couldn't muster the strength to feel bad about it.

That was how the medics found them, Kakashi sprawled on the floor, passed out with his head resting on Obito's leg right next to Rin's legs. Obito was sitting criss crossed, Rin's ashen, dead body lying in his lap. He was cradling her head to his chest with one hand, and stroking Kakashi's hair with the other. Obito was the one that held the whole team together.

Minato was in the team that found them, and when he saw his team like that... Obito, alive, Rin, dead. Kakashi was asleep. Minato cried as well, that day, getting both of the boys up and hugging them, not caring about the blood that was all over him now. Obito was alive, they'd all thought he was dead, and Rin really was dead, when she'd been so alive when Minato had last seen her. Kushina cried, too, when she saw them. Rin was the only other girl in their little family, and Kushina had loved her. She wouldn't let the two boys go when they got home. Especially not Obito, who was supposed to be dead.

But after one chat with Minato-sensei Kakashi was slowly recovering? Huh. Minato-sensei must be a better therapist than he knew.

Speaking of Minato-sensei, his son was the cutest thing. Obito felt a strong connection to the kid. He was excited to watch baby Naruto grow up. He had a feeling that the kid would get into a bunch of crazy shenanigans, and he was totally there for it. He did normally love babies and children, but this one was a bit different, somehow. He seemed... kind of smart. Obito appreciated that.

Obito climbed onto the roof of the dango shop and stared out into the village, sighing. Rin would've loved Minato-sensei's baby. He thought, blinking to avoid tears. Thinking about Rin was still hard- he felt like a part of him had been torn out. But he felt better than he had a long time ago.

His eyes then trained on a streak of red that was flying across the roof across the street from the dango shop. It was headed east, and Obito could think of many important people who lived that way.

The young Uchiha immediately began chasing the red streaks. He noted how they began to slow, and eventually came to a complete stop.

He paused beside the red streak, (who now took the form of a person) and his eyes nearly bulged from his head. "Kushina!" He shouted worriedly, dropping to his knees next to the woman. He hadn't seen the redhead since the last time he'd stopped by to see her, two days ago, and she'd been in a coma. He'd been planning to go see her again today. She was awake now?