The Cave

  Obito let out a soft sigh, a thumb rubbing over a leaf of the small potted plant. Sure enough, he had asked for it, and the next time Minato had visited, he had presented it to him. All smiles and happiness and warmth, and Obito had almost felt sick to his stomach.

  Or maybe that was some other feeling he couldn’t put his finger on and didn’t want to think about.

  It helped. That’s what mattered. It helped keep Hashirama’s chakra from tearing him asunder in a desperate need to be released, to get out, and that’s what mattered. It wasn’t a complete solution, he could still feel it rolling around inside him, like an ocean, like a wild animal not wanting to be tamed, to be placated.

  But it made it easier.

  There’s a knock at the door to his room, and he groans quietly, because Tsunade had already come and gone only 30 mins ago. Which meant it was his least favorite visitor.

  His only other visitor.

  Except for the small child with him—-- hey, wait a second!

  “Did you snitch on me, kid?”

  The boy– Itachi? Obito was pretty sure his name was Itachi– let out a small sound of surprise, gaze flickering away, and Obito hears Minato give a small huff, as if he’s about to scold him. Just like he used to. As if they were still just—-

  Obito looks away. He feels something squeezing in his chest, just as he so often did when he looked at Minato. It hurt. It was suffocating. It made it hard to breathe, to think. It reminded him of warmth and sun and something gentle.

  Itachi approaches Obito’s bed, pulling him from his thoughts as he looks to the child. Itachi’s face is calm, but there’s something in his eyes– curiosity? Obito isn’t quite sure. It’s small, but it’s there, shining through.

  “I apologize, Obito-san,” Obito’s not sure how he feels being called that. “I asked Minato-san if I would be able to properly meet you, though I believe it took him a bit to get permission from Hokage-sama.”

  It had, but Minato wasn’t going to say that outloud. He had finally convinced Hiruzen that, hopefully, Obito would come to care for Itachi, and be able to change his ways. Or, at least, calm down a bit. Perhaps Obito would never be the same, never be that same boy that Minato cared so much for. But maybe he could at least be happy again. Maybe he could at least be at peace again.

  Maybe he didn’t have to hold so much pain anymore.

  “And you wanted to, because….?” Obito has an eyebrow raised, both curious and not sure if he fully believed him.

  “Well, I suppose it probably does not really make sense.” That just confused Obito, and he lets out a sound as his head tilts to the side, and Itachi tries explaining. “You see, Minato-san told me that you are Father’s brother. That would make you my uncle, yes?”

  “I guess so, yeah.” He supposes, technically speaking, he was, wasn’t he?

  “But I did not even know of you, until I met you here.”

  “Color me surprised.” His voice is deadpan. He had kind of expected that. Maybe if everything hadn’t happened, he would’ve been in Itachi’s life a bit more, but he doubted it. Doubted Fugaku would let him.

  He’d probably think Obito would mess things up.

  He always did, after all.

  “Did you and Father not get along?”

  Obito can’t help the bark of laughter, and it causes both Itachi and Minato to give a start in surprise. There’s a smile on Obito’s face, but there’s no amusement in it. Itachi’s eyebrows are drawn together, and Obito is surprised to see something like worry in them. But perhaps he’s just projecting.

  “No, Fugaku and I didn’t get along. I was just….a nuisance. An annoying little brother. Someone to get under his skin. Who was way too dramatic.” The last word is spat out, and Minato takes a step forward to say something, but no words come out. He’s not sure what to say.

  And neither is Itachi. But his gaze has softened. He looks like any other kid, unlike the professionalism on his face when he had first walked into the room. Was that the right word for it? Obito wasn’t sure. It was that air about them that most Uchiha seemed to have. And air of collected calmness. Like every move was planned. Even so young as Itachi was.

  Unlike how Obito had ever been.

  “I apologize.” Obito’s not sure why he is. What would Itachi have to be sorry for?

  He has to look away from him. Back to the plant he was still cradling in his hands. A burst of color in an otherwise sterile hospital room. Tsunade wasn’t sure how to feel about it at first, but if Minato had brought it, she wasn’t gonna argue. And so, she had let him keep it.

  “Um, you see—-” Obito blinks, look back over at Itachi, surprised to hear him speak again. “I have a younger brother of my own–” He did? “And I very much…..I love him. When I look at him, I want to do anything I can to protect him.” It hurts. There’s a tightness in his chest and it hurts. It squeezes and crushes his heart and he realizes it’s jealousy. A green envy burning inside of him. “And, I guess—-” Itachi presses his fingers together, trying to figure out what he wanted to say. He wasn’t good with feelings. With emotions. But he wanted Obito to understand. “I guess, finding out that Father had a brother of his own, that I never knew of– that he did not seem to get along with– I suppose I just do not understand. Did he not feel those same feelings when he saw you, as I did– do– with Sasuke?”

  Obito couldn’t answer that, but he would have to guess, ‘not really.’ He wonders if Fugaku even cared that Obito died. He wonders if anyone had. If anyone would again. Or was he just meant to be forgotten, even as he fought so hard to be remembered, in some way—- in any way.

  “I guess, it is just simply—- you are family.” Obito blinks, surprise enveloping him. He feels himself tense, as if almost defensively. He doesn’t say anything, though, and Itachi just shakes his head.

  “I suppose I just wish to know my uncle.”