Rating: M-ish

Warnings: Language, violence, slight gore, platonic soul-bond-ish things, brief discrimination, general destruction, vague angst, etc.

Word Count: ~16000 overall, ~5600 this chapter

Pairings: Kakashi/Obito, vaguely mentioned Rin/attractive jerks

Summary: AU. Nine years ago, Obito and Rin dragged each other out of hell, and they've been surviving as best they can ever since. But a return to Konoha brings with it an old but unforgotten love, murderous undead, and a homicidal witch with shadowy plans, and facing their past maybe be the only way to keep the entire city out of the crossfire.

Disclaimer: Hah. I want some of whatever Kishimoto's been smoking, but Naruto's not mine.

Notes: For a "witchcraft!AU" prompt on Tumblr, which I had far too much fun with. Um, oops?

This story is already complete (!) in three chapters, but I only finished the last chapter about fifteen minutes ago, so I'll be posting them once a day to give me time to edit out my bits of stupidity. :)

At night the dead come down to dance

Chapter 1

Obito hasn't been back to Konoha in years, but the city hasn't changed at all. He doesn't know whether to find it heartening or depressing.

Still, the sun is warm, and Konoha lacks Kiri's creeping, pervasive mist that chills to the bone, leaves everything soggy and dim and never lifts. Here the sun is out, and a trace of a warm breeze rustles the flowering cherry trees around the square. Obito breathes it in slowly, carefully, committing himself to enjoy it for however long they manage to stay here. Both he and Rin have ties to Kiri, after all, and those can't be broken so easily. They're lucky that Mei Terumi is an honorable woman; anyone else might try to take advantage of their debt.

It's automatic, after so many years, to cast a glance back at the shop behind him. Rin is hovering a few steps from the counter, still in line, with her eyes trained on the menu above the till. He takes a second to assess, but her aura is calm, tinged with excitement—because Rin always loves food, and they've been eating Kiri's excess of seafood for so long that Obito isn't sure either of them can ever look at fish again—and her shoulders are relaxed. Her light coat is closed, to hide the service weapon she's carrying, but the weather is still cool enough that no one is giving her a second glance. The purple witch-marks on her cheeks are drawing more attention, but still not much.

Maybe Konoha has changed in the time he was gone.

Seeming to feel his eyes on her, Rin turns and catches his gaze, then smiles brightly and waves. She points at the menu—mostly burgers and sandwiches—and gives a theatrical excited wiggle, grinning. Obito laughs despite himself, flashing her a thumbs-up in response, and goes back to studying the square.

It's peaceful, watching the cherry blossoms sway above the heads of a few scattered passersby. The air is clear of any malevolence, and Obito can feel a few sparks of purifying magic trapped in the stones around the square's edge to keep negative emotion from building. Breathing is easy, and it feels like each breath is worth two taken anywhere else, clean and cool as it slides into his lungs.

He didn't quite miss Konoha, but maybe there really is something to be said for coming home. If he ever says as much out loud, Rin will tease him mercilessly, but just to himself, Obito can admit it.

He turns, intending to check on Rin again—not that she needs it, not that he thinks she's going to get mauled by a sandwich or something, but because the habit of so many years is hard to break—when movement on the western side of the square catches his eye. Automatically, he looks, body already shifting slightly, and—

His breath catches in his throat.

A pair of teenaged girls, passing by a corner filled with seething shadows, eyes on each other and attention scattered. Darkness rising like a cresting wave, then retreating, falling back to leave a twisted tangle of limbs and rotting flesh. A miasma of noxious hate, of death, slipping across the pale and sun-warmed stones, reaching out with intangible fingers even as the revenant scrambles after the girls.

No one notices. No one ever notices until the first victim dies.

There's no time to wait for Rin, or even to yell for her. Obito lunges from his bench and throws himself across the square, orange light already blooming around his hands. "Down!" he shouts, but this isn't Kiri; no one understands, no one listens. The two girls keep walking, and even as people scatter out of his path, dead-grey fingers lash out and latch onto living flesh.

The blonde girl screams in terror, high and sharp, as the revenant rises up, wrenching her back towards it. Its mouth opens, unhinged jaw gaping grotesquely, and—

Orange light erupts like a supernova right between the two as Obito forces himself between them, heart racing. He grabs the girl's shoulder even as he turns, his lightshow condensing into a barrier that slices right through the revenant's rotting arm. It comes free with a splatter of congealing black blood and bounces to the ground, fingers still grasping for human warmth. The creature hardly notices, though, staring at Obito with empty sockets. It moans, low and rattling, raising the hairs on the back of Obito's neck, and takes a staggering step towards him.

"Run," Obito orders the girl, shoving her in the direction of her friend. She goes without hesitation, bolting towards the safety of the surrounding streets, and Obito fully shifts his attention to the creature. It moans again, empty and haunting, and reaches for him with its one remaining hand. Another flare of orange light blocks it, but as he is right now Obito can't hold a shield for more than an instant and has to retreat. There are screams around them as people finally realize what's happening, a rush of people fleeing the square, but Obito can't spare any attention for them.

This at least is familiar. This isn't an unlooked-for homecoming, this isn't a family that's never understood him. This isn't familiar places made unfamiliar by time and wear, by the fact that Obito himself has changed so much as to be unrecognizable. It's a fight, a confrontation, and if Obito's ever been good at anything it's getting himself in over his head and charging in with his magic leading.

He takes a breath, the formerly clear air now heavy with a furious hunger and greedy anger, clogged with the scent of rot and grave dirt, and demands, "Who raised you? What is your task? Name your master!"

The revenant falters, then stops, and the patchy head tips to the side. It keeps tipping, going almost horizontal, and the creature lets out a low, plaintive whine. Its hand darts out, deceptively fast, but Obito summons another split-second barrier and blocks it.

"Name your master!" he repeats as the orange light shatters. "Who raised you? What is your task?"

This time he gets a gurgling cough, but before he can even try to decipher it, the revenant moves. It lunges, impossibly fast, and Obito has no time to summon another shield. With a curse he throws himself to the side, summersaulting and coming back to his feet only to dart away again as the revenant grabs for his throat. Unnaturally long nails scrape his skin, drawing blood, and the thing screams, high and wavering and hungry. It hurls itself at him, but this time Obito manages a shield, and uses the half-second of cover it provides to stumble back, reaching for any extra scrap of power that's not tied to his life force.

"Obito!" Rin shouts. "Duck!"

Obito trusts Rin with everything, right down to his darkest secrets—they're secrets the two of them share, after all. Obeying her doesn't even require conscious thought. He drops to the ground as her gun barks once, and a dart of violet light slams into the revenant's chest. It staggers, not quite falling even as the light worms across its flesh, devouring the magic that keeps it animated. Not quickly enough, though, because it still has the same terrifying speed as it lunges again, nails tearing into Obito's shoulder before he can roll away.

"A little help would be nice, Rin!" he shouts, scrambling to his feet and darting backwards.

In a smooth movement he's seen more times than he can count, Rin holsters her gun, then raises her hands. Violet light sparks again, dancing across her skin like bright static and gathering in the air between her palms. It writes itself into an intricate rune, then blazes, and Rin cries, "Unseal!"

Points of heat flare to life on Obito's skin, curled around each wrist and the base of his throat. The sudden surge of magic brings the seals on his power to the surface—intricate, interconnected purple runes, wrapped around his wrists and neck like invisible manacles. They burn as if set alight, and Obito can feel the moment they register Rin's magic and go dormant. His own power rushes in, filling him like an incoming tide, and he grins, bloody and ruthless.

"No property damage, Obito!" Rin shouts. "We just got here! I don't want to spend all my free time doing paperwork, okay?"

Obito huffs, even as he ducks under another wide swipe and takes another three steps back. "Shut up, Rin, I know what I'm doing!"

For both their sakes, he pretends not to hear her loud scoff.

Over the last twelve years, magic has been simple, far simpler than anything else. Obito steps back again, but this time when the revenant moves to follow, it slams into a high, broad wall, and can go no further. Obito sets his feet, calling up a trickle of power that quickly turns into a flood, shading the air around him with its color and flickering like flames. It consumes the miasma around the revenant, eating away at it until orange is all that's left. As his magic closes around the creature, trapping it in a razor-edged web, Obito smirks, victorious.

"Thrice asked," he says sharply, "and I command you answer: what is your task? Who raised you? Name your master!"

The revenant struggles, rotting limbs thrashing against the light that holds them, head whipping side to side in a motion that would break a living human's neck. It moans, sharp and pitiful, but Obito doesn't let his magic waver. He doesn't say anything, because any other words will destroy the compulsion, and waits, doubling down on his barrier to be sure it won't break.

With another low whine, the revenant slumps forward, body going limp. Its wide jaw opens, and in an eerie, hissing whisper, finally answers, "No master…prey."

It takes effort not to curse. To resist a compulsion bound by the number three, either the revenant really doesn't know who called it back, or whoever raised it is strong enough seal its words even from a distance. Obito doesn't like either option; it would take a ridiculously strong witch to summon a revenant across so much of the city, maybe even more powerful than would be required for blocking a compulsion.

In a sudden rush of movement, the revenant hurls itself against the spell holding it and screams again, startling enough that Obito's grip on his barrier slips. The undead creature lunges for him, jaw gaping and claws outstretched, and Obito's magic surges forward on its own, unconscious self-defense. Fire sparks, blue-white even in the sunlight, and then bursts like a bomb going off. Obito yelps, throwing himself back and away from the heat with his arms raised to shield his face, and nearly collides with Rin as she grabs his shoulders and drags him away. As quickly as it sparked, though, the fire dies away, vanishing completely, and a trickle of ash disperses on the breeze.

"Well," Rin says after a moment of silence, sitting up on the flagstones where she landed in a sprawl. "I suppose that's one way to purify it."

"…Oops?" Obito offers, slightly sheepish, and pushes to his feet before he offers her a hand up. She takes it, and he hauls her upright. "I didn't destroy anything, though."

Rin laughs at that, stretching up on her toes to pat him on the head. "Yes, yes, congratulations, now we won't have to start our careers here explaining massive amounts of collateral damage."

Obito rolls his eyes at her, though he can't quite fight the smile pulling at his lips. "Ready?"

"Oh, I suppose," she sighs, and tightens her grip on his hand as she closes her eyes. Her aura shades to lavender, brightening until it's almost painful, and she traces another rune in the air with her free hand. "Seal," she commands, and the runes around Obito's wrists and neck flare, then settle, and his power washes away. Instead of a river in flood, all he's left with is a bare trickle, and he grimaces as he flexes his fingers. It feels like being drained dry, like someone sucking all the energy right out of him, and Obito's had enough experience with the feeling that even Rin's comparatively gentle sealing makes him uneasy.

"Okay, Obito?" Rin asks, watching him with concern in her smoky-brown eyes, because she always knows. She's the only person he's never instinctively tried to kill for locking his powers away, after all.

"Fine," he says, giving her his best approximation of a reassuring smile. "Did someone call—?"

As if in answer, agents in dark blue and black uniforms stream into the square, several of them with witch-marks. A tall woman with wavy dark hair is near the center, clearly giving orders, and her team fans out across the square.

"Of course I did," Rin chides. "What do you think took me so long? It's not like I was sitting inside finishing my burger."

"You say that like it's not totally something you would do," Obito retorts. "If you had already ordered you would definitely have left me out here to get my ass kicked, don't lie."

Rin giggles like she's not actually evil and wicked and the best thing that's ever happened to Obito. "Well, those burgers looked really good," she says lightly. "Besides, we beat it. Stop complaining." Her gaze darts past Obito's shoulders and she straightens slightly, lifting her chin, and offers her polite work smile. "Ma'am. Thank you for coming."

The dark-haired woman smiles back as she approaches, red eyes flickering from Rin to Obito and back again. "Miss Nohara?" she asks.

Rin nods. "I'm Rin Nohara, and this is my partner Obito Uchiha."

His last name gets him a second, sharper glance, but the woman's smile doesn't waver. "Kurenai Yuuhi, Captain of the Paranormal Investigations Team, specifically scouting and first contact. You reported an undead?"

"A revenant," Rin confirms. "I was in the shop over there, but Obito saw it and intervened before it could cause any damage. Once I saw the altercation, I joined him, and unsealed his magic so he could purify it."

The woman's shoulders tense, and though she doesn't quite take a step back, the thought is there. "You're a Chain and Blade pair?" she asks sharply. "Miss Nohara, the law requires that Chains remain within five hundred feet of their Blades at all times—"

"I did, Captain." Rin's smile takes on the certain shade of sweetness that means she's starting to get truly angry. Obito takes a prudent step back to get out of the line of fire. "And I'll freely admit I left Obito on his own for a moment. However, the law also requires that Chains look out for the mental and physical wellbeing of their Blades, especially in regards to public safety. Obito doesn't do well with cramped or crowded spaces, so I went to get our lunch by myself, while he stayed on the bench beside the window. As for him moving to intervene with the revenant, that's also covered under the mortal danger clause in the law—he saw a threat and stopped it, and was well within his rights to do so, even if it meant separating from me. Also, Obito is standing right here, and can actually hear you. You might want to address him with your questions about the fight, ma'am."

It's cute that Rin thinks he's offended. Obito arches a brow at his fierce partner, who's trying her best to seem unruffled but instead just looks like she's fuming. They've had this conversation multiple times in the ten years they've been working together, and it never gets any less amusing. A lot of people treat Blades as something less than human, but Rin at least has never stood for it.

"It was a newly raised revenant," he says to break the faintly sour silence. Yuuhi glances at him, still frowning, and Obito clarifies, "I saw it rise in that corner, and it immediately started hunting. There was a girl, about seventeen, blonde, with a long ponytail, and it latched onto her. I separated them and distracted it, but it was still weak and relatively slow. It wouldn't answer my questions, even when I laid a compulsion on it."

That makes her frown deepen, going from wary offense to intent concern. "You didn't see another witch in the area? No other workings being done?"

Obito shakes his head, then glances at his partner and raises a brow. She hesitates, but finally says, "Nothing. I'm rather sensitive, but I didn't feel anything until after it rose."

Yuuhi sighs at that, running a hand through her hair and glancing back at her team. "Hagane, check over there," she calls, gesturing to the corner Obito indicated before she turns back. "Are you willing to come down and give a statement? The Paranormal Research Agency is on the east side of the city, in the 5th District—"

Rin laughs a little, grinning. "We know," she answers. "Obito and I are starting there tomorrow. It won't be that much of a hardship to go in a few hours early."

The woman looks surprised. "Which division? Where are you transferring from?"

"Kiri," Obito says when Rin looks at him, silently warning him to participate in the conversation or else. He rolls his eyes at his partner, who just gives him her cheeriest smile. "Into the Rapid Response Division."

Dark brows wing upwards, and Yuuhi inclines her head. "Impressive. You're a combat pair, then?"

Rin turns that sunny smile on the other woman. "Our specialty is the undead and middle-tier demonic entities. Kiri had us as their primary assault team for bad situations."

"Very impressive," Yuuhi corrects herself, her smile shading to wry. "Well, I'm glad you were on the scene. A revenant, even a new one, loose in this part of the city—I don't even want to think how many people it could have killed before we managed to contain it. Thank you, Nohara, Uchiha."

"Captain," Rin returns politely. "We look forward to working with you."

"As do I." Yuuhi nods, then steps back. "I'll get an officer the take you to the station. Excuse me."

Rin watches her go, and once she's safely out of earshot makes a sound of pure despair. "Ugh. Why are the hot ones always bigoted assholes?"

Obito laughs. "Like that's ever stopped you before," he teases.

Crossing her arms with a huff, Rin fixes him with her darkest glare. "Obito! I do not specifically pick—"

"Are we forgetting about Zabuza? Are we forgetting about Ameyuri? What about Karui? What about—"

"Hecate, Obito, I am not that bad!"

Obito snorts, grinning at her indignant expression. "That fact that I have five other examples waiting to be listed would suggest otherwise."

Rin sighs, lips twisting into something that she would definitely deny is a pout. "I like attractive people," she defends. "If I could find someone hot and nice, I would jump their bones in a heartbeat. Besides, I need to make up for you, don't I? Last time you deigned to so much as get coffee with someone—"

"No!" Obito yelps, attempting to head off this train wreck of a conversation. "No, no, no! We are talking about your inability to date, not mine. If we get on this subject you will never let it go, and I don't want to be drummed up on charges of murder because—"

"I'd like to see you try," Rin says sweetly, and bats her eyelashes at him for effect.

Obito is too smart to take her up on that. Thankfully, before he has to come up with another argument, someone behind them clears his throat, and they both turn to find a brown-haired man in a blue beanie waiting patiently. He gives them a cheerful smile and a wave, and says, "Hello! I'm Izumo Kamizuki. The captain asked me to give you a lift to the station."

"Nice to meet you," Rin answers, catching Obito's wrist and dragging him forward. "I'm Rin, and this is Obito. We're ready when you are."

"This way, then. We parked on the street." Izumo leads them across the square and down a side-street to the main road, waving at a man with spiky black hair and witch-marks as they leave. The witch waves back, crouched down where the revenant rose with his hands glowing teal. Obito glances between them, judging power levels, and can't help but think that if the witch were twice as powerful, they'd be a Chain and Blade pair. Izumo feels like subtle misdirection, while the other—Hagane, Yuuhi called him—has an edge of catch-and-hold all wrapped up with the sensation of travel. Well-matched, the two of them, but even so Obito can't help but feel a flicker of gladness that they're not that strong, that there's no chance of Hagane going out of control if he's not sealed.

Rin is the best thing that could have happened to a lost, angry young witch, at war with the world, but even so, Obito sometimes wishes it hadn't been necessary.

As if sensing his thoughts—and maybe she is, because they've been friends since they were children and bound together since they were nineteen—Rin curls her arm around his and leans into his side a little. "Eyes on the horizon and keep walking," she whispers, smiling gently at him, and Obito can't do anything except smile back.

"Always," he agrees, and it's their mantra, has been for so long that he can barely remember the first time she said it, but it still means just as much. It's still one of the things that gets them both through nightmares and horrors and a decade fighting evil in its purest form. He squeezes her arm gently, and then lets go so she can slide into the passenger seat of Izumo's squad car, "Paranormal Research and Defense Agency" sketched out in neat, unobtrusive black lettering on the side. He takes the backseat, settling in as Izumo starts the car and eases away from the curb. Rather than watch the traffic, he closes his eyes, trying to remember all the details about the revenant that he might have skipped over during the fight.

The simple matter of its location is confusing; normally, witches summon revenants from the graveyards where the bodies are laid to rest. It's easier that way, requires less power, and a revenant with a task will never waver from it, so they're easy to send elsewhere. Dark witches in Kiri had a tendency to camp out in the sewers and move their revenants that way, which was disgusting, but admittedly rather clever. Summoning a revenant through earth it wasn't buried in, at a distance, with no line of sight—that's not so clever, and a good way to court magical exhaustion as well. Obito can't understand why someone would do it.

The creature was hunting; that's undeniable. That's what revenants do, what they're summoned for. Each kill they make funnels life-energy back to the witch who raised them. The only reason it let Obito distract it from its task was because he had more energy than anyone else in the area. Had it been sent after someone specific, Obito would have had to contain it before he could destroy it. But…surely an older revenant, one adjusted to its new senses, would have been a better choice. The distance from whatever graveyard it was harvested from to a more populated are of Konoha would be more than enough to settle the magic of its creation, so why not do that? Why waste power on an ineffectual revenant? It's stupid.

Granted, a lot of witches who go bad aren't exactly playing with a full deck, but still. They tend to hoard their power, and that was the opposite of hoarding. Obito just doesn't understand it, and not understanding makes him twitchy.

Ingrained instinct makes him open his eyes and check on Rin, even though there's nothing nearby that could conceivably want to hurt her. She's fine, chattering excitedly with Izumo about the best places in the city to eat, but she feels his attention and casts a quick smile over her shoulder before going back to her conversation. Satisfied with that, Obito turns his attention to the city, studying landmarks that were once familiar but have now faded to a hazy memory.

Last time he left Konoha was in a flurry of hurt and horror and vicious, destructive anger, and honestly, if he didn't have Rin, he wouldn't be too far from that seventeen-year-old idiot. Her finding him, coming to look for him when he dropped out of contact, literally dragging him from that hellhole Madara kept him in—it saved him. His life, his sanity, any shred of decency left inside him—all of it is due to Rin.

They're back in Konoha because of her, too, and Obito can't even begin to feel any resentment for that fact. After all, Rin was unhappy in Kiri, hated the perpetual fog and the grim-grey city and the moss that grew everywhere, the undead infestation that never seemed to get any better no matter how much they fought. So he'd mentioned, carelessly, casually, that he really fucking missed the sun, and that they should put in for a transfer to somewhere sunny immediately, and hey, guess what city has the best climate?

So Konoha it is, even though Obito can't summon up more than a bare handful of happy memories about the place right now. Even those that were happy have been tainted, twisted by the way he left, and it's Obito's fault, but…he was a kid. He was a kid, and Madara was an adult, a relative, so fucking sympathetic—

Fingers brush the back of his hand, warm and familiar, and Obito jerks his head up, startled out of his dark thoughts. Rin casts him a soft smile over the back of her seat, sunlight catching in her brown hair and bringing out hints of red and gold. It's second nature to smile back, the shadows slipping away, and suddenly the air in the car feels easier to breathe.

He was always weirded out by the idea of Chains, back when he was a magicless kid who was sure he knew everything. The thought of tying yourself to one person in a way so much more permanent and important than marriage, of never going more than five hundred feet from them, of giving them full permission and liberty to bind and control you—he couldn't have imagined it. Most people can't.

Now, ten years after Rin set her seals into his skin for the first and last time, Obito honestly and literally can't imagine being without his Chain for even a moment.

He's not in love with her, not anymore. That passed back when he was fourteen, because Rin is his best friend and his sister and their souls are tied together so tightly that it's sometimes hard to tell that they're separate people at all. But he loves her more than he does anything in the entire world, knows that if he ever lost her and their bond didn't drag him straight down into death after her, he'd unmake the world in order to forget her loss, if he didn't just eat a gun immediately.

It scares him, sometimes, to think how far he'd go, so he tries not to contemplate it.

"Here we are," Izumo says cheerfully, parking right in front of a flight of wide marble steps and shutting off the engine. "PRDA. Come on, I'll get you started on your statements and then have someone show you around. Your desks might even be ready."

"Thanks," Rin says warmly, sliding out and stepping up onto the curb. "I hope we're not inconveniencing anyone, coming in early like this."

"Inconveniencing them? We're the ones that got rid of the damned revenant," Obito mutters, following a step behind. Izumo shoots him a startled look, like he's surprised to hear Obito speak, and Obito rolls his eyes. Really, the man had better get used to it; Obito isn't one of those Blades who believes he should be seen and not heard. Rin doesn't speak for him, even if he lets her when he'd rather not deal with idiots.

"Obito," Rin huffs, though there's a faint smile pulling at her mouth that she's trying to hide. "We just happened to be there. Get off your high horse, or I'll knock you off it. Remember, I know where you sleep."

"Ooh, scary," Obito teases, just to see her scowl at him—though, if he's perfectly honest, it kind of is. Rin puts bulldogs to shame where tenacity is concerned. "Going to short-sheet my bed? Put dye in my shampoo?"

Rin laughs. "I'm not twelve," she retorts, grinning. "But you know, our new apartment is supposed to have a television, and I've just been dying to watch those soap operas you love so much twenty-four hours a day—"

"Aargh." Obito grimaces and raises his hands in surrender. "All right, you win, no holding it over their heads. We are very, very grateful to them for putting up with the inconvenience of us saving lives and doing their jobs for them—"

"Obito!" But Rin is laughing again, so Obito counts that as his win. With a small grin in return, he tucks his hands into the pockets of his jacket and trails her as they head up the wide grey steps. She beams at him, turning to look over her shoulder just before they reach the door. "See? There you go, you look more cheerful already! That frown was about to start scaring small—ooph!"

Obito leaps forward, catching Rin before she can fall as she tumbles away from the asshole who knocked her down. "Watch it!" he snaps, bristling. "Who the hell just barges through a door without looking?"

"Maa, maa, I'm sorry, miss," an impossibly, achingly familiar voice drawls. "Didn't see you there."

Obito freezes, fingers clamping down on Rin's arms, and he knows he should let go, ease the pressure, but he can't. It's been twelve years since he heard that voice, painfully raised in their final fight, since he felt the ozone-sharpness of that presence, and—

Rin's fingers curl around his wrist, tight and grounding, and she breathes out carefully, deliberately. Automatically, Obito matches her, wrestling his emotions under control before he helps her back to her feet and pointedly steps away. Rin doesn't need his help to keep her feet. She never has.

"Hello, Kakashi," Rin says, looking up into the man's face with one of her brightest smiles. "It's been a long time."

Obito tells himself that he's not watching, but he still sees ash-grey eyes go wide. They sweep down, then flick back up, catch on Rin's face and hold there with a desperation that's a little surprising. "Rin," he says quietly, like he's in shock. "You're…here? Are you okay?"

At that Rin's smile turns a little cheeky. "Lieutenant Rin Nohara, reporting for duty," she says cheerfully. "We just got into Konoha a few hours ago."

"We?" Kakashi repeats, and his eyes flicker over to Obito's shoes. Slowly, slowly, they rise, and it takes far more effort than it should for Obito to hold them without flinching.