Three Wishes

A few hours later, when Obito returned from a meeting with Madara. He hated the whole meeting. Madara was so cocky, egotistical and vain. No one could tell him anything. Neither did he, and he was his right hand. He sat down beside Kakashi and checked his wound. He seemed to have gotten the treatment right. He covered it up again as the door to his room swung open and two little boys burst in.

Without thinking, Naruto lunged at Obito and bit his hand. Obito swayed with an unexpected impact, lost his balance and fell to the ground. The boy's eyes gleamed with power. The other boy got to him, too, and sat on his other hand, growling warningly at him. Naruto nodded to Gaara and walked over to Kakashi, who had been asleep the whole time.

„Kakashi!” the boy squealed, jumping on him. Kakashi felt as if a stone had been thrown at him. Under the new weight, he immediately woke up and sat down.

„Naruto?” asked the ninja, who was the last to remember the torture. It felt like it was just a dream or a nightmare. But when he looked around, he saw that it was real, and their captor was pinned to the ground, guarded by a child. Maybe it was another dream?

„Are you all right? Are you hurt?” the boy asked, studying his face.

„I'm still...” he didn't get a chance to finish, as the boy caught him in an embrace. „...Naruto,” he sighed and stroked his back.

Obito watched their reunion from the ground, wondering if there was anyone who liked Kakashi. Had he misjudged his rival? No, that was impossible. He was sure it was just a trick. He sat up slowly, trying to calm the raccoon wraith that he meant no harm. But Gaara continued to glare at him.

„I think you should let him rest if you don't want his wounds to open again. And how did you manage to get out of your cells?” the genie asked Naruto, who immediately let go of the ninja and sat down beside him.

At the mention of the cells, Kakashi gave Obito such a look that he would probably have been stabbed a hundred times. It was as if his eyes were telling him how dare he ever throw his boy into a cell.

Obito felt he had to defend himself somehow. As if he had somehow fallen for a ninja. But why did he care? He always wanted to torture him. He should suffer. He should take the spirits, throw them back in the cells and show everyone that he was the one in charge. And not the other way around.

He was about to object when there was a knock at his door. He walked over and opened it. One of the soldiers was waiting for him outside. He said something to him before he left again. Madara demanded his presence, and he felt very bad about it. He felt it deep in his bones.

„I have a business to attend to. You can stay here if you behave. No one can know about you. Otherwise, you're going back to your cells immediately. If I don't come back, they'll bring you food,” he informed them sternly before putting on his orange mask and leaving. At least he'd finally preserved himself as a commander.

They all sat quietly in the room for a while before Gaara walked over to the bed.

„Naruto, who's your little friend here?” Kakashi asked.

„I almost forgot. It's Gaara. I found him when I was looking for you. They kept him here too,” the boy explained, jumping from the bed to walk closer to the raccoon spirit.

„Gaara, this is Kakashi I was talking about on the way,” he said. Gaara merely gave the ninja a look of full appreciation, and that was that. The main thing for him was that he wasn't a threat and that he was close to Naruto. That meant no one was allowed to hurt him.

„Nice to meet you, Gaara,” Kakashi smiled at the boy, though his smile was unrecognizable through the mask. But his eyes spoke for him more.

Obito entered Madara's private room, where Uchiha was waiting impatiently with his hands behind his back.

„Took you long enough,” Madara scowled at him.

„I came as quickly as I could,” he replied.

„You should have teleported. It would be faster.”

„You told me not to do it in hiding,” he stated.

„Enough wordplay. That's not why I called you,” he admonished.

„Why did you call me?” he asked.

„I notice you spend a little too much time with your prisoner. Especially outside the torture chamber. I even heard that you took him to your room after he was properly tortured,” his tone of voice might have sounded light, but there was a threat.

„I wanted to revenge myself. I didn't want anyone else to kill him,” he replied simply.

„Really? So why haven't you already? After all, you've been through for him, you're still letting him live?”

„No. I want to kill him. But I want to break him first. I want him to suffer as I have suffered,” he replied determinedly.

„That's what you say, but it feels like you're having a slow think. You soften in his presence. I feel like you need a little reminder of what our real plan is?” his voice darkened, finally revealing what he had been hiding behind his back. It was a dark blue to black oil lamp with gold trim.

Obito's heart sank. This was serious, and rarely a good sign. Madara snapped his fingers and immediately one of the recruits rushed over. Madara's advantage was that he could control everyone with fear to 100% obedience. He handed the recruit a lamp and said something.

The recruit then stroked the lamp, which billowed fiery red smoke. The smoke formed its way to Obito and slowly enveloped him. Once he was surrounded and no part of him was visible, the smoke pulled back into the lamp, taking the man with it.

A few days later, when Obito was not returning to his room, Kakashi was beginning to have some concerns. Sure, they were still enemies at the moment but he had the feeling that the old Obito he knew was still out there hiding behind all that hatred and vengeance. Why else would he save him?

Kakashi tried to get out of bed when his injuries decided to protest. Wounds that he thought were already healed opened up again and began to bleed. It looked like he wasn't going anywhere today.

There was a slight knock at the door. Signal that there was a tray of food out there. Naruto immediately peered through the door, and within an instant, the tray was on the table. There was enough food for all three.

The boy immediately handed out portions to each of them and sat down next to Gaara. The second spirit, he felt, was somehow reclusive. Rather, his eyes were etched with solitude. He wanted to fill it. Make him feel like he wasn't alone. And it looked like he didn't complain. Perhaps, as if he were willingly seeking his presence, too. Naruto was a kind of sun that banished his nightmares.

After eating, they played around the room for a while. They played catch and subsequently made themselves comfortable with Kakashi. Naruto settled in with his guardian, and Gaara lay down on Naruto.

Kakashi felt that the little spirit had become a new member of their small family. At least Naruto would have a friend in the village. None of the other kids wanted to play with him because of what he was. Two little spirits. What a strange friendship.