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If there is one thing many of the young aspiring shinobi of the academy could agree on, it was that no one was allowed to touch the goggles on Obito’s head.
Why? Because it was obvious how special they were to him.
No matter what he was always wearing them around like they were some badge of honor and he made sure to keep them secured on his head. Even when he wasn’t in the academy he could always be identified by them when he was out and about.
So when he didn’t have them on the next day at school, some of his peers almost didn’t recognize him. The usual relaxed smile he’d wear was gone from his face as he couldn’t seem to stop fidgeting with his hands. There were a few whispers of concern and wonder at why the only Uchiha in their class was without his signature eye wear.
“Do you think he got his sharingan?”
“No, if he did then he would be bragging about it, not looking like he did something mischievous again.”
“Still it’s weird isn’t it? He never takes his goggles off…”
“Do you think they broke?”
“I hope not, it’s so strange seeing him without them over his eyes or pushing back his hair…”
Obito slowly buried his face in his arms as he overheard the others around him. He tried to ignore it, mainly because they were semi-correct. He had broken the glass on them and had set them aside for a moment so he could see how much ryo he had to get them repaired. It was only for a mere few seconds before he turned back to find them missing!
He had almost torn his room apart to try and find them but instead he just ended up making a mess to clean up. Now he was here without his goggles and feeling almost naked without them on. He could barely pay attention to the lesson as he scratched the side of his head where the band would be.
Breathe. You can do this. You’ve done this before and you can do it again…..it can’t have just disappeared, you’re going to go home later and find them in the most obvious spot just like you always do!
He takes a slow breath in another attempt to calm himself–
“Maa, maa. What’s with such a long face?”
He almost fell out of his chair by the sudden appearance of his classmate–the proclaimed genius of their entire generation no less–startled him, “Bakashi…!!”
Kakashi tilted his head at him calmly, his spiky white hair flopping a little from the gesture while keeping a calm air about him as if the insulting nickname was something endearing instead of calling him stupid.
“You look different today…”
Is he serious? “You don’t say…”
“Mmm, did you do something with your hair?” Kakashi asked, his dark eyes half lidded as he rested his masked cheek on his hand, “Or maybe you got a good night’s sleep?”
Obito’s eye twitched as he stared at him, trying to fight down the small blush on his cheeks. Why did Kakashi have to sound so…so non chalant? Like he didn’t see something was wrong.
“I am just having an…off day,” the ravenette youth mumbled as he adjusted his blue jacket and tried to ignore how much he wished he had the band of his goggles to tug on and fidget with. It bothered him just how different he felt without them on. Like he wasn’t completely himself right now.
“Hmm, an off day huh? Could it be because….” Kakashi held his hand out to Obito, “you’re missing this?”
Obito looked…and then did a double take, his onyx eyes widening when he found his goggles in Kakashi’s hand; the nasty cracks that had been on them yesterday were completely gone as he slowly took them into his hands.
He ran his fingers over the glass in disbelief. It was smooth like the day he had gotten them as a gift. The band that held them to his head was also repaired, having a little more resistance when he pulled on it before he smiled and slowly slipped them back on.
“..How did you…?”
“Hmm?” Kakashi cracked an eye open as if this wasn’t all that big a deal, “...I just happened to find it with those cracks and knew you used these a lot and decided to bring them to a friend who could fix them up…can’t have you training with faulty gear.”
Obito swallowed slowly as he stared at Kakashi, just really looking at the other boy. This had to be the nicest thing he has ever done for him, even though they both were on completely different levels of skill and he knew the other was on the fast track to graduating early. Yet…he felt something inside him soften just a little as he pulled the goggles over his eyes and smiled.
“...I guess they’ll work fine,” He couldn’t fight down a smile as Kakashi almost fell back in his chair.
“G..Good!” Kakashi cleared his throat, as he tried to regain some sense of decorum. He straightened himself up before averting his gaze to look out the window, “You are getting better..I’d hate to see your progress hindered because you didn’t have what you needed.”
The young Uchiha snorted a bit, but for once he wasn’t annoyed. Though he could feel the warmth in his cheeks from how much that little compliment meant to him. Especially from someone like the Hatake boy.
Maybe he’s not such a jerk after all…I wonder if he’s done something this kind for anyone else?
“Just uh…don’t expect it to happen often. You need to be more careful with your things, Obito.”
Like that, the warm and fuzzy feeling was dulled by the annoyance that goes through him. Of course Kakashi would use this as an excuse to give him a small lecture.
Still, while his smile had become smaller, it was still there as he looked down at his hands.
Even if the other wanted to act that way…Obito was still happy he went to the trouble of fixing his goggles.