Paint my sunset [Kakashi XObito]

IV. Change the Fate's design

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." - Ariel

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"Kakashi-sensei is so quiet, don't you think?", Sakura said, coming up next to Naruto and keeping his fast pace.
"Huh? You think so?", the blond answered brows furrowed in confusion. He didn't notice anything, "He's always quiet, isn't he?"
"Not like this.", Sakura said though she wasn't sure how to explain it properly. Ever since they've woken up, something about their sensei had been off in a way. The lazy slouch he was usually sporting outside of a fight was missing, he hadn't read his Icha-Icha stuff when she woke up either.

When Sakura came to in the morning and opened her green eyes the sun was rising slowly, coating the site in a soft orange. The fire was slowly glimmering out of existence. 
She sat up on the floor, noticing that she was still holding onto Naruto's cloak but somehow couldn't really bring herself to let go. 
Now, that they were looking for Sasuke, an idiotic fear had sparked in the back of her head that Naruto just might leave her too. It prevented her from uncurling her gloved hand from the fabric of his teammate.
When she looked around the campsite, she was confused that Kakashi-sensei didn't sit at the spot he had sat at when she had fallen asleep. Glancing about, she was able to see everyone, except for his sensei. 

"Yamato-sensei, where is Kakashi-sensei?", she said her voice still a bit hoarse from sleep as she rubbed her eyes with her free hand. 

Her Brunette Sensei sat where he kept watch the entire night, arm propped on his knee, back against the tree a slight frown on the normally calm face. When he heard Sakura's voice he turned around to look at her, erasing the disdaining expression from his face to replace it with a neutral one.

"Ah, good morning Sakura. Kakashi is just checking the perimeter. He'll be back when everyone has woken up so we can get moving.", he explained and moved his gaze up to the crowns of the trees in which Sakura assumed her Sensei must be perching on.

"Did something happen? He usually isn't that on guard.", Sakura noted and clutched the fabric in her fist a little tighter.

"We ran into a member of a terroristic group just yesterday. I think that calls for caution." Yamato answered and it was a sound and reasonable explanation but it just didn't really fit Kakashi to be the one doing it.

Sakura let the topic go, thinking that she is just fretting over nothing but when everyone woke up, and Kakashi immediately, on time, appeared on a branch near her with a short "Good morning everyone, let's get a move on." which was considerably lacking the carefree cheerfulness, the worry in the Kunoichi grew. 

"He's probably just worried about Sasuke.", Naruto considers and his tone got a note more serious. It always did when Sasuke's name was mentioned. 

"Yeah, probably...", Sakura said, yet it didn't explain why Kakashi-sensei hadn't looked at her or Naruto the entire day and kept his already fast pace a little faster than he usually did. 

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Ever since waking up back at the campfire, Kakashi hadn't been able to catch any shut-eye. Not only did his once Ge-nin student in which he saw so much of himself kill his brother and finally got the revenge that Kakashi had prayed for him not to seek, his soulmate was also a part of Akatsuki that was hunting down Jinchurikii, like Naruto. 

Fucking Uchihas.

But waking up back at the campsite, that really did mean that Obito was still alive and Kakashi had no idea how to feel about it. He only knew that whatever Chaos that has been going on in his head was starting to wear him out. 
He wished everything could just be normal and easy for once.
But life and fate had this funny habit of messing up every order Kakashi was trying to integrate into his life.

They were all hurrying to the Akatsuki hideout, in hopes to find any traces of Sasuke there and while Kakashi hoped that there was still a chance at mending the broken, he already had a feeling that if the younger Uchiha managed to kill his older brother, he would not have left any traces of them both. 

He felt worrying glances pierce the back of his skull ever since they all had woken up, exception made for Tenzou who had looked at him worriedly throughout the entire night. 
He increased his pace as if he could flee them, faster towards a hint at Sasuke.

And maybe a little faster towards Obito. 

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With a disdainful sigh, Obito turned away from the close-to-blind Orphan that was still resting unconscious. Of course, Itachi let his younger brother win. He didn't spare Sasuke just to kill him now to save his own life. 
Itachi always had that quiet matyrism sticking to everything he did and that's what he never liked about the younger Uchiha. It reminded him too much of himself. 

The cave they were hiding in, was far away enough that neither an Inuzuka nor a Hyuuga could smell or see them. It was a small, cold thing that was coated by a fragile silence. Only broken by Sasuke's labored breathing.

After Obito's little detour to Kakashi's team, he had forced himself to stick with the youngest remaining member of their clan. He had forced himself to sit quietly on the wooden crate in this cave that didn't have enough room to breathe and he forced himself to stay. 
Madara didn't care about small caves. Madara didn't care whether or not he couldn't properly stand upright and breathe deeply in and out. 

But Madara felt his facade cracking with every hour he had to sit in suffocating silence and Obito underneath was slowly but steadily breaking through.

Because Obito hated caves.  

If this had happened just a week before, before this damned clearing, he was sure he wouldn't have a problem sitting in this dark, cold hole for days without an end but right now all Obito wanted was to see the sky. No matter if it was dull and gray. Everything was better than the illuminated rocks he was buried under. 

So he stood up from his seat and left the cave and it felt like a defeat and victory at the same time.

His steps slowly carried him out. Suddenly paranoid to use the Kamui as if Kakashi would be able to sense it. Which he wouldn't be. Obito knew. But he still couldn't bring himself to it. 

Instinctually he looked down at the ground when he exited the cave, rather looking at the green grass than at the gray sky. 

He closed his eye. breathed in the fresh air as deeply as he could and couldn't quite stop the corners of his mouth from turning slightly upwards, now that he was free from the claustrophobia induced by the small confinement. 

Winter was slowly approaching. While the leaves were still green, the winds picked up and became a few degrees colder, the villages needed a bit longer to wake up, the days got a little bit shorter. 

A breeze was brushing over his mask and Obito lifted it off to feel it.

He hadn't wanted to feel anything in a long time.

But the urge seemed important, so he grasped at the orange porcelain and let the breeze wash over his hair, his face, his skin and gave it a small appreciative smile.

In this quiet, peaceful moment, Obito's mind felt empty. Empty of Madara, empty of hate, empty of regret and ambition, empty of longing and resentment. 

He breathed out, let his head fall back and opened his red eye that widened immediately at seeing the vast blue sky for the first time in over fifteen years.