𝕬 𝕻𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖊 𝕿𝖔 𝕮𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝕺𝖚𝖗 𝕺𝖜𝖓~|† 𝕆𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕠 𝕩 𝕆ℂ †|

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕴𝕴 |†𝕽𝖆𝖒𝖊𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕿𝖗𝖚𝖙𝖍†|

Nariko's pov~

Aunt Kushina's house was warm, cast in a golden glow. The smell of ramd wafted from the kitchen, making my stomach rumble. My mouth watered, the tip of my tongue anticipating salty broth and fresh noodles—

My stomach growled again.

"Heh, someone's hungry..." Obito grinned, his voice teasing. Only for his own stomach to grwl in return, causing him to blush.

"You and me both!" I laughed. "Aunt Kushina! I'm home! And Obito's with me!"

Aunt Kushina poked her head out of the kitchen, her bright red locks tied back with what appeared to be a bread tie. Pieces of hair had begun to slip out from her makeshift ponytail, each coated in flour and bits of ramen dough. But even if she'd noticed, she probably wouldn't have cared much.

"Obito-chan!" Kushina beamed. "It's been a while, dattebane!"

Obito grinned in return, folding his arms behind his head. He thinks he looks so cool..hehe big dork...

I snickered as Kushina ran over to him, enveloping him in one of her big bear hugs, ruffing up his already messing mop of thick black hair. It was always entertaining to watch Obito squirm under Kushina's affections, a blush painting his pale cheeks. Pale....he doesn't look so good...maybe he really is hungry...

"Come on, you two!" Kushina grabbed both of our hands, marching us to the dining room. "Dinner's just about done!"

Kushina sat the both of us down at the table side by side, before bustling off to the kitchen with many scoldings about daring to think that we should be helping with dinner too. Auntie Kushina was like that; always saying that she never needed help, and it was our job to just relax while she handled things. Well, I though she was ridiculous.

"Kushina Nee-chan is so nice to me ramen." Obito grinned, flashing his iconic smile. But...there was something about it that wasn't quite right. As though...I don't know...but there's something about that smile...it seems strained. Almost as though he's forcing himself to do it cause he knows that's what we expect.

Nah, that's crazy. What am I thinking?

I nodded in response, smoothing back my hair. "Imma go wash up, Obito-kun. I'll be right back."

Slipping off to the wash room, I carefully washed my hands and face, making sure I was clean. My mind wandered from this to that, always straying towards Obito, and how his smile felt...wrong. He was my closest friend in the entire world, if something was wrong...I really hope he would tell me.

When I got back, Obito was still waiting, but he wasn't his usual self. Obito normally would be messing with something, usually almost breaking it like the klutz he was. But now...he just sat at the table, slumped over. Like he was too exhausted to even hold himself up.

He usually has so much energy..."Obito-kun?"

He flinched at my voice, flashing a guilty smile. "Uh...uh...h-hey! N-nariko-chan! I..heh..I didn't see you there..ahem..."

I raised a brow. "You're acting wierd."

"N-no I'm not!" Obito failed his arms about, hitting the vase of flowers that had been set on the table. It would have fallen if he hadn't caught it quickly, place it back.

That's more like it. But still...

Obito-kun looked away. "Uhm..uh...I'll go wash up now..."

He rose to his feet slowly, again lacking the energy I usually saw him with. My mind instantly jumped to conclusions. Is he angry with me? Is he sad? Was it something I said?