Melody (Konoha School Of Arts)

17. Uchiha Tobi

Tobi's hand trembled on the handle of the door to his father's hospital. He had finally built up courage to visit his parents. It had been years since he saw them last after he went to live with his grandmother but having to learn that the next place he would see them again was in an hospital and on their almost death beds was devastating.

Kakashi, noticing his anxiety, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, silently encouraging him to go in. The teen inhaled and slid the door of the VIP room open. He did not know what he expected to see but what he was met with had his breath stilling with forming tears behind his eyes.

Even if Kakashi spent most hours of his day brooding in front of Obito before Iruka persuaded him to go back to teaching, he still had not gotten used to seeing how injured his best friend really was. He had taken the most impact of the accident, the falling stage landing on and crushing the right side of his body.

His right leg from his knee was completely obliterated along with the whole of his right arm. His torso was not left unaffected but his internal organs thankfully sustained minimal damage. His face though was violently scarred forever and his black hair turned white from the strain.

As Kakashi watched as Tobi bawled expressively, repeating his apologies for not visiting sooner over and over again – he was his normal self for the time being – Kakashi could not help but think back on how the boy was created.

• years before now... •

"Bakakashi!"

Kakashi did not hinder the irritated groan that pushed past his masked lips as the unfortunately familiar voice of his self proclaimed rival reached his ears. One would think he would leave Kakashi alone especially with the cold shoulder he treated the other with but Obito kept bugging him.

Kakashi was pretty sure it was because of Rin though. Rin was the third person in their trio and... Obito's crush. He had once stumbled upon the Uchiha kissing Rin's picture so he was sure that Obito liked to bug him because it seemed that Rin was into him.

What a bother. Kakashi was not interested in anybody if their name didn't begin with Icha Icha.

The three of them, he, Obito and Rin were all private students of the Fire Nation Award winner, Namikaze Minato. It used to be only Kakashi before the other two joined. This was because after Kakashi decided that being a pianist like his father didn't suit him, he became enthralled with dancing and Minato, being his father's friend, was ready to teach him.

They all became a family rather quickly, Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san. The older two were like parents he never had, they being so welcoming and always there for him especially since his father's passing.

Maybe it was because of his general aloofness, despite noticing how very...closer Obito and Rin seemed to have gotten as they grew– they were pretty close as they were childhood friends, the news came as a shock to him. Obito and Rin were dating.

He was happy for them, more or less, but that did not stop him from being mad at the both of them when after some years later, Rin announced that she was pregnant. She had told him privately because she was afraid to tell anybody else, especially Obito for fear of what they might think.

Kakashi was never one to mince his words so he blatantly scolded her and Obito despite the raven's absence. "What were you two thinking?!" He had yelled angrily that day. "You're teenagers for crying out loud, how would you take care of it?! What would your parents do?! What would happen to you now?!"

Rin cried that day. He remembered how he had hugged her after realising that he came off as too harsh and revealed that he was only very worried for the both of them. In the end, Rin told Obito and the idiot was happy to have a child with the woman he loved, albeit very scared because they were still practically teenagers.