Chapter 125: Reunion
For Obito, the world had always been simple.
He was a loser, an Uchiha nobody expected much from, but he had two good friends.
Rin Nohara, who promised to watch him march toward the Hokage seat. And Kakashi Hatake, who was arrogant on the outside but, deep down, genuinely kind. Obito trusted them. Always had.
Three years ago, Aizen and Kakashi left the village for reasons no one ever explained to him. Obito never believed the whispers about betrayal. Honestly, nobody really accused Aizen of defecting either. Even now, whether Aizen Sousuke counted as a rogue ninja was still sothing people argued about in the Chakra Network, then forgot, then argued about again.
Within the Uchiha clan, there were not many harsh words aid at Aizen. So to Obito, their so called defection felt less like treachery and more like… they just got tired of ho and wanted to live sowhere else. He understood that better than anyone. Obito hated staying in the clan compound too. If he could spend every day with Rin and Kakashi instead, that was all that mattered.
So no matter what people said, Obito still called Kakashi his friend. And he had always hoped he could drag that stubborn genius back to Konoha one day.
As for why he could not go with Kakashi, that was simple too.
Rin was still in Konoha.
Rin often sighed that she had been too young back then to go with Aizen, and she still had not received any invitation from Las Noches. So in every way that mattered, it felt better for Kakashi to co back.
Now, staring at Kakashi in his proctor badge, Obito’s regret practically spilled out of his ears.
If I had not talked so much trash, I would not be dying like this right now.
Having a proctor nearby was already pressure. Having a familiar proctor nearby was worse. Having Kakashi Hatake silently watching you with that dead calm eye was a whole different kind of terror.
Obito’s heart bled in silence. He clenched his teeth, lowered his head, and forced himself to focus on the paper.
Thankfully, because this was the first Chunin Exam jointly held by all villages, Konoha did not pull any weird stunts like team spirit tests, group eliminations, or psychological traps on day one. It was just a basic placent written exam. Nothing more.
No cheating gas. No fancy collusion rules. No nightmare questions disguised as puzzles. The paper was straightforward, almost gentle. That alone eased him a little.
Even with Rin living rent free in his skull, Obito still tried to answer properly.
Once the test began, Kakashi did not deliberately rattle desks or stare him down with intimidation. He simply stood there, quiet and still, watching Obito bite the end of his pen like it was his last lifeline.
There was no chaos like Obito had imagined. No grandstanding. No humiliation. No students trying to sabotage each other for pride.
This was a world where acting reckless could get you killed, and not in a dramatic heroic way either. More like dying in so ditch nobody rembered.
Between that pressure and the rise of the Chakra Network, the kids had gotten weirdly sensible. Everyone knew what it felt like to be destroyed by so anonymous powerhouse online. Nobody wanted to gamble their real future on hotheaded pride.
So with the classroom calm and the proctors strict, the written test ended quietly. No major surprises at all.
Strictly speaking, the only real commotion was still Obito’s earlier ltdown in the corridor when Rin got assigned to a different room. Compared to the grand scale of this joint exam, that was barely a footnote.
When Kakashi collected the papers and handed them to a semi chanical proctor from Sunagakure, Obito almost wondered if this was all a dream.
That was it?
The Chunin Exams that everyone had hyped up like a horror story were… this normal?
As the genin started filing out in small groups, Obito sat there blankly. His single tomoe Sharingan spun slowly, and it felt like so dramatic illusion in his head had just shattered.
“Hey, Obito. If you are done, leave,” Kakashi said from the doorway. “You are blocking people.”
“Huh? Ah, right.”
Obito stood, but then sothing clicked inside him.
He walked straight over to Kakashi, planted both hands on his shoulders, and stared into his eye with the kind of seriousness only clueless children could pull off.
Kakashi lifted an eyebrow, unbothered.
“What now?”
“It’s been three years. Three years. Do you know how much Rin has missed you?”
“We have the Chakra Network,” Kakashi said dryly. “You can talk there. You do not need to obsess over eting in real life.”
“How can the network compare to reality?” Obito snapped, like that was the dumbest thing he had ever heard. “Co on. Let’s go find Rin. She should be done soon.”
“Eh…”
“What are you hesitating for? That’s Rin. We need to check if she is okay.”
Before Kakashi could dodge, Obito hooked an arm around him and dragged him forward.
Just like three years ago in the Academy.
Obito was always the one coming up with ridiculous ideas, then physically hauling Kakashi along whether he liked it or not. Back then Kakashi would try to resist, rember his father’s advice, fail anyway, and sohow end up with Rin and the rest of them.
There used to be another loud kid too, a young beast nad Might Guy who called Kakashi his rival at least twice per breathing cycle.
But Guy had volunteered to beco the second ninja in Konoha to impress everyone after Aizen’s departure, or at least that was what Obito had heard. Obito wondered what happened to that weird, passionate guy who never shut up about youth. Even though he was not old, it felt like he was walking straight through mory.
They staggered together to the front of the exam building. Obito even spent a few coins on two tiny bags of shaved ice and shoved one into Kakashi’s hands.
Then they waited in the shade for Rin to co out.
Obito munched on his ice, then glanced sideways at Kakashi, who still looked distant and worn out. He watched the steady stream of genin leaving the halls, and suddenly spoke like he was talking about the weather.
“Hey, Kakashi. Are you even listening to ?”
“Hm?”
“Let’s go back to Konoha.”
Kakashi did not reply right away.
Obito leaned against the tree, goggles crooked, voice softer now.
“I don’t understand adult politics. I don’t know theories. I’m just an idiot. So I’ll do what an idiot should do.”
He stared forward, not really looking at anything.
“I don’t have many friends. The only people who have been truly good to , the only ones who never lied to , are you and Rin. I’m close to just you two. Everyone looks down on , thinks I don’t deserve Rin, but I know she’s lonely after you left. I don’t want her to be lonely.”
His fingers tightened around the lting bag.
“And I’m lonely too. My best friend left without even knowing why. When I finally found you through the Chakra Network, I was so happy. I kept talking to you, but you barely replied. I know you’re amazing and I’m not. But I don’t want us to stay separated.”
Obito rambled like he always did, piling up small truths he usually kept buried.
He was not smart. He was not famous. He was not talented in any special way, even for an Uchiha.
But he rembered things.
He rembered Kakashi using Earth Release to disappear during hide and seek so he could win without effort. He rembered the tiny habits, the small monts, the way their childhood had felt before everything got complicated.
Kakashi listened in silence, eating his shaved ice like nothing in the world could touch him. Then he exhaled.
“It’s different. I’ve betrayed the village.”
Obito blinked at him.
“What did you do to betray the village?”
Kakashi paused.
“Did you do sothing bad to Konoha?”
“Ah?”
Obito squinted, baffled.
“So if you didn’t, why can’t you co back?”
He tilted his head, looking at Kakashi like the answer should be obvious.
[P@treon Christmas Discount: 20% OFF]
[Read Up To 40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics]
[/FanficLord03]
[Join The Discord For Updates, Polls, And Etc.]
[.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]
Reviews
All reviews (0)